


Legally Liable

by Citron0



Series: TLNM One-shots [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Father-Son Relationship, Garmadon's pan, Humor and Horror, I'm an ace so don't expect anything lewd, Kind Of Graphic, Self-Harm, don't ask me why it just happened, i write this instead of sleeping, it's based on my life so- I guess, my life is a joke, no beta we die like men, sort of a comedy, there's probably fluff here too, weird blend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 13:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18623851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Citron0/pseuds/Citron0
Summary: Garmadon has parental responsibilities to Lloyd after Garmadon's latest attack on the city collapsed NGC's fragile economy. Koko loses one of her  jobs and is no longer able to support her son. Garmadon is ecstatic and unwilling to let such an opportunity pass.Takes place in an AU of the Lego Ninjago Movie that shares events and elements from the movie video game and the animated TV show.





	1. Intro, The Economy is in Shambles

**Author's Note:**

> Switches POVs regularly, so look out for that.  
> (Edit: It seems only Lloyd got the 1st person treatment, weird.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Economy machine broke, and by totally non-corrupt means, Garm now has custody over his child.   
> His child, age 14, hates it. (And sort of notices that this was all planned)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lloyd: Who's idea is this? THis is a hORRIBLE idea.  
> Garm, paying the school board million(s): This is a GReat idea!  
> Lloyd @ Garm: I hate you. (Garm @ Lloyd: Love you too, son! :') )  
> Koko: Lloyd, be good!  
> Lloyd @ Garm, but quieter: I still hate you.  
> Garm @ Koko: Thanks for trusting me! (Koko @ Garm: I already regret it.) Garm: :')

Lloyd.

"Garmadon's last attack has literally crashed our stock market*!" The wavy-haired reporter, Gale, exclaimed from beyond the television screen.  
The rolling text beneath her profile commented, "Unlike the other times whereas he simply crashed into the stock market."

"Let's hope we can recover from this one." I glanced at Mom's concerned expression before I turned the TV off.

My voice carried a slight echo to it as it ricocheted gingerly in the living room, "Mom?" She seemed out of it.

"Yes, sweetheart?" She snapped out of her stupor as she adjusted her posture as we sat at the kitchen bar.

"Uh, never mind. See ya later, Mom." I didn't want to talk about money with her, so I decided to just leave for school.

I wondered why Dad never reached our apartment in his conquering attempts as I walked to the bus stop while carefully avoiding the rubble. Did he purposefully avoid areas where people are living? It made me uneasy to think he might have a suspicion to where we live.

I absentmindedly bit my lip with a fang, "Ow!" I yelped, everyone gazed at my outburst like they thought I was going to lash out at them in pain. I frowned before forcing a smile. I read somewhere that smiling makes you appear more friendly; maybe it doesn't work the same way when you have fangs?

The school too, was miraculously undamaged. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought Garmadon was intentionally dodging places I went to or thought I went to. I entered the high school hoping that Garmadon wouldn't try to take the city while it's down. That would be a low blow, but a good call for a warlord to make. I wonder if he has any honor.

* * *

Koko.

"I'm sorry, we just can't afford to keep many employees after the last attack your **_ex_ **made on the city." Her boss had said 'ex' with a level of venom she had thought had only been reserved to her. He handed her the check; it was barely enough to pay for a week's worth of expenses. I winced as I skimmed the digits.

"I'm sure you'll work something out." He said has he handed her a box full of her things. She accepted it with a heavy heart; this job was the better paying of her two jobs. She didn't think she could afford to pay for the shellfish Lloyd had to eat because of his— tooth condition. If he didn't his fangs would fall out, only to regrow; who knew raising an Oni hybrid would be so expensive.

"I'd hope so." She replied at a pitch that seemed to echo in the small office. She knew what would happen if she couldn't provide for him: he'd have to move in with his father.

She sighed, she had to call Lloyd: "He deserves to know." Koko whispered under her breath. She unsheathed her phone from her holster and put it to her ear after entering her car.

The phone rang a few times before her son answered, "Mom? Is something wrong?"

"Lloyd," she began knowing her child would sense the tension, "Your father—," She cut herself off and tried again, "I lost my job."

She heard Lloyd's phone clatter to the floor, "I," it was abundantly clear he had no idea what to say.

"I'm sorry." It stung that her son felt guilty for what his father's actions.

"Was it the job at NinjaMart?"

"No." Flat and to the point, like how she used to be before— she had met the warlord on the battlefield that fateful day.

"Oh." He didn't knows the implications of that, perhaps he didn't need to. If she could land a job before it was too late— no, they just entered an economic depression: it was too late.

She had to call him, Lord Garmadon, her ex-husband and Lloyd's father; but in the end, she settled on sending an email. She wasn't sure what she would say if she were to talk to him; she needed to keep it professional.

* * *

Garmadon.

The conquest, that had taken almost 14 years to get this far, was finally coming to a close. With their economy in shambles, he could almost taste his victory. He could sense his son's anxiousness from inside his volcanic lair– 'he'd be about 14 by now,' his mind supplied. What was going on in that high school of his that was stressing him out so much?

"Lord Garmadon!" One of his GIT nerds was alerting him. His gaze locked on her like one of his piranhas to a fresh slab of meat.

"You-you received an email." The curly afro complimented her circular glasses frames.

He looked away, disinterested, "Is it another one of those lousy peace treaties?"

"There-there's one of those in here too, but one of these came from a 'Koko Garmadon.'"  
 

All movement froze on his side of his mortar desk. His gravelly voice had softened dramatically, "Read it to me."

* * *

Lloyd.

My phone fell out of my hand at the news. We were barely getting by before, what would it be like now.

"I," I tried to speak but the words wouldn't form. I wasn't sure how, but her getting fired was my fault some way or another, "I'm sorry." Had I just been stronger or faster— then maybe Ninjago wouldn't be suffering right now. I let everyone down. The crackling pops of the beginnings of molten tears snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Was it the job at NinjaMart?" If it was that job, then the damage done could be manageable.

"No." Her usually warm voice had run cold like the ice in Zane's mechanical veins.

"Oh." I adjusted the phone so it would be closer to my ear. I heard a beep and I realized a little too late that I had hung up on her.

Kai was the first to notice my distress. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. "Lloyd, are you doing alright?" My pupils had become slits; my vision had become heat-based for a moment,

"Whoa, dude, calm down. Did Chen say something rude to you again?"

"What? No, I mean yes, but that's not what's bothering me." Kai seemed to visibly relax at that.

"Well, what is it then?"

"I don't know! First my mom loses her job because of Garmadon's last attack, and now I feel like someone is staring at me - but there's no one here!"

"Your mom lost her job? That's rough, buddy. Will you be okay?"

The staring feeling stopped abruptly. I took a deep breath, "I'll make it through—." The siren let out a loud, "Boo," Kai and I exchanged glances, "Oh no." We spoke simultaneously.  
"Not again." He groaned.

"It hasn't been long enough to repair all the damage done to our mechs!" I added.

Nya rode in on her motorcycle to our location, which was near the lockers, "Hey, actual bro, no time for talk. It's time for action!"

* * *

Garmadon.

"Hello, Ninjago!" The warlord entered Ninjago city through its beach. A chorus of people screaming his name followed him where ever he went. He was holding a print-out of Koko's email with a spare hand.

It wasn't too long until the ninja had appeared to challenge him; only about three to five minutes passed.

"Ah yes, the ninja." Garmadon acknowledged the six teens that had arrived in battered mechs.

"Luckily for you, I didn't come here to conquer the city," He muttered, "But I will later, no doubt about that." under his breath.

"Why are you here, Garmadon?" The Green Ninja spat.

"I wasn't going to tell you ninja, but," he waved his email about, "You won't believe this – I can't believe it either! I just gained legal custody of my son!" He was grinning ear to elfin ear.

* * *

Lloyd.

"What!?" I was mere seconds away from entering shock. I felt sick to my stomach. Mom couldn't - she wouldn't!

"I know, right?" He had to be lying; he had to be. His excitement was filling me with unspeakable levels of dread.

"There's no way; you're lying. Where's your proof?"

"Oh, it's right here, Green Ninja. If it bothers you so much, why don't you come over here and read it?" Lord Garmadon was taunting me, I just knew it.

"Okay, fine! Maybe I will!" I flew my damaged dragon mech over to his shark mech. He handed it to me with so much glee in his eyes. I bet he probably thought he could get me into becoming a warlord like him.

As I read the email, I struggled to keep my voice from wavering, "I regret to inform you that due to the depression, I won't be able to provide for my - _our_ son anymore. As much as I hate to do this, I only want what's best for him. I hope, for his sake, that you only want what's best for him too. He'll have to move in with you until Ninjago City recovers from the stock market crash and I can get a better paying job. Please take good care of him, Garm."

  
I lowered the letter to read the signature leaving out the postscript, "Signed, Koko." My hands shook as I handed it back to him and slowly re-entered my mech.  
Conflicted, yes, but I was mostly opposed to the idea of moving in with the older Oni hybrid.

 _'I'll just have to move in with Uncle Wu.'_ I silently decided, I knew he wouldn't mind. Anything's safer than moving in with Garmadon.

"Oh no." I heard Jay say from his communicator.

"That's all you're here to do, right? Brag?" I glared, fighting the childish urge to cry, "Well, you have. Can you go now?" I sounded tired, emotionally spent - which wasn't an incorrect way to describe how I felt.

"What makes you think I'd leave without whom I came for?" He pressed a button and a claw attached to a chain flew out of his mech and latched onto mine. He pressed it again and it retracted pulling me in like a fish to his fishing rod. I could tell he was preparing to launch me into the ocean.  
I tried to fire any missiles that could still be inside but I hadn't reloaded since our last fight. I pressed the eject button at drifted towards Jay's aerial mech as my mech flew on auto-pilot to the hanger. I let out the breath I wasn't aware I was holding.

Garmadon pressed another button - it didn't do anything external so it was the button that group-called his troops, "Generals! Don't let them stop me."

"Jay, you guys gotta protect the school."

"On it." While damaged it wasn't very fast, but was still mobile enough to get out of danger.

"Zane, Cole," I called out them from Jay's communicator, "You're on defense."

"Affirmative." Zane nodded.

"Got it." Cole said nonchalant.

"Kai, you're on offense. And, Nya, you're in charge."

"Can do."

"You can count on me."

"As for me," I grimaced from under my mask, "I gotta be where I'm supposed to be."

* * *

When Jay and I had arrived to the school, we had a small slot of time to discuss the situation while evacuating the students.

"Lloyd, I think you should talk to your mom about this before trying to live with Master Wu."

"What's wrong with living with Master Wu?"

"Ooh, _let me think_."

The lightning ninja tapped his chin sarcastically three times before responding with a raised voice, " ** _Oh_** , I know! He's gone for _weeks_ at a time and lives in a _shack_. I don't even think he has any **money**!"

"Okay, fine. I'll call my mom." I conceded as I pulled out my phone. She answered almost instantly.

"Lloyd?" Her worry was contagious.

"Mom, there's something I need to talk to you about."

" _Oh_ , you were watching the news when the Green Ninja read your father's email aloud?"

"Yeah, _that_."

"I'm sorry you had to find out that way. I was going to tell when you got home, but my email got your father excited. I didn't know he was going to try to take you with him immediately, if I had known I would've waited before sending it."

"Mom, why-why didn't you tell me about this? We should've talked about it before you sent an email to _him_."

"I know. I want the best for you, but the best isn't what your uncle or even I can provide for you now. I know Garmadon will take care of you. This won't be forever, just until I can get back on my feet, or if Wu _miraculously_ wins the lottery. Please just go with him when he arrives at your school, I know you'd rather stay with your uncle, but your safer, bizarrely," She commented before continuing, "With your _father_."

I groaned upset that there really weren't any other options available, " _ **Ugh**_ , okay, _fine_. I'll _go_ with him," She thanked me from the other line, "But I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about it."

"That's perfectly fine with me, Son. Just be careful, it might be like walking on eggshells when you start sleeping in a volcano. I love you."

"Yeah, love you too."

I got the subtext: no fighting at the _volcano_ , 'Yeah, **that** would be dangerous.'

Garmadon's a bad guy; let's just hope he isn't a **bad** guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will happen next? Will Garm ever take over Ninjago? Will Lloyd be more attentive? Is Koko part Oni (Probably not)? Where does Wu go 85% of the time (he just goes out to eat carp in the forest like a monk, I'm sure he doesn't have tape worms he's constantly going to the doctor for)? Questions will be answered, but probably not the ones you wanted to ask.


	2. Oni and Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make Wu and Garm half Dragon and half Oni respectively. Lloyd was under the assumption he was an eighth dragon, but he's not. Kind of a lot of exposition. ((Ha ha, no one told Lloyd anything.)) Lloyd tries to be a good boy, but his instincts tell him to protecc himself.  
> Spoilers, Garm isn't all too bad of a dude; at least when it comes to his son (he loves Lloyd unconditionally. Lloyd, on the other hand, not quite.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who met their quota?? (It was me, be proud.)  
> I wanted to make the Oni more like cats than snakes. (In this AU, Garm wasn't bitten by the Great Devourer, he just looks like a hornless adult Oni - when not in his 'Oni-Oni' form)  
> Contusion=bruise.

Lloyd.

 

Sneaking back into to school was a little easier than it usually was since the school goes on lockdown every time Garmadon attacks. I assumed that the school's no longer in lockdown because of the announcement I made as the Green Ninja, to unknowingly all of Ninjago City.

Needless to say, they were expecting company.

"Lloyd!" I nearly jumped out of my hoodie at the shrill sound of my first period Social Studies teacher.

"Oh, hey," I cleared my throat, "Teach, I was just using the restroom."

"Normally, I don't care when you skip, but if you do so today, we might have to deal with an angry warlord."

She sighed, "Please," she squirmed slightly at my gaze like I might attack her, "come with me back to the classroom, so we know where you are when he shows up." I looked down. Did my eyes do the thing again?

"Okay." My voice was no louder than a whisper. I tried to calm myself down, but that only stressed me out more. I dug my nails into my arm as a distraction.

For a while, it worked until I heard a loud knock on the classroom door. Followed by several perpetually louder knocks. Oh, yeah, that's my _dad_. 

* * *

 

Garmadon.

 

Wasting no time, the soon-to-be ruler of Ninjago City jumped down from his mech landing at the entrance of the school. A short flight of stairs later, and he's demanding Lloyd's homeroom number. As soon as he found it, he knocked.

"Hey! What gives?!"

He raised his hand to knock again before getting an idea, a poorly conceived one but an idea. Each knock was given more force, he had no idea what a non-steel door could handle so if they won't let him in then he'll just knock until the door— or him— gives out.

Oh, yes, this will be a battle of wills: who will win? The door, Garmadon's final hurdle before he reunites with his son after so long. Or Lord Garmadon? He could probably eat his way through the door if this doesn't work ou—.

The sound of what could be perceived as a fierce battle cry pierced Lord Garmadon's eardrums enough to notice that the door had succumbed to his might. He was expecting way more resistance than that.

After the pathetically weak door fell down with a ground-shaking thud, the warlord entered then proceeded to skim the classroom. It occurred to him that he didn't know what his son looked like; he regretted not looking at Lloyd's school portrait before coming.

The only thing he remembered about him had been those radiant - in a radioactive sort of way - green eyes that shined at him when he was an infant. One of these kids had to be his son, he could sense him!

Garmadon narrowed his eyes as he thought, 'What hadn't he inherited from his mother? There was only one blond student in the entire classroom; maybe that was La-loyd? Sure, La-loyd didn't have hair when he was a newborn, but it's my only lead.'

He called out to the silent classroom while looking in the general direction of where he knew his son sat, "La-loyd, you know who you are, you're coming with me." The blond kid, who was currently hiding his face in a paper folder, flinched at the name before grabbing his things. Once He stored that manila folder he was hiding behind in his bag, Garmadon got a good look at his face. Green eyes? Check.

'Oh, hey, they're slits!' He couldn't help but smile at that. His toothy grin made Lloyd grimace as he slogged his way to him; he’ll get used to it someday. The elder Oni ruffled Lloyd's hair; it felt so much like his own, but it ran wild— untamed— like Koko's. He laughed at the boy's feeble attempts to swat his four arms away, definitely Kokes's son.

Outside of the classroom, Lloyd's demeanor changed drastically. Kids care too much about how others see them, Garmadon decided. He noticed that Lloyd eyed him with wary, his pupils remaining slits as he watched his father's every move.

"Are you scared of me, La-loyd?"

"What did you just call me?"

"Your name?"

"It's pronounced 'Loyd,' D—." He cut himself off by biting his tongue. Odd.

"Is that what your mother calls you?"

"It's—," he hesitates in the midst of his confusion, "It's what everyone calls me?"

"Well, they're all wrong." Before Lloyd could retort, he adds, "Why wouldn't you pronounce the other 'L?'"

"It's silent?"

"Oh, yeah? Name one English word with a silent 'L' at the beginning of the word; I dare you."

Lloyd's thick, definitively Oni eyebrows scrunched in contemplation. Blanking, he says, " _Touché_."

 

The ride home was filled with a sort of unperturbable silence, or so Garmadon thought.

Abruptly Lloyd shouted, unable to contain himself, "Wha-What about ' _llama_!?'" Had he spent the whole trip trying to think of words that started with double L's? Is that why he stopped resisting?

Unwilling to accept defeat, the warlord countered, "But can you name two?"

Silence fell over the two of them once more, but Garmadon heard him mutter under his breath, "I should really get a dictionary."

Garmadon, believe it or not, actually wanted to converse with his kid. The blanket of silence was becoming uncomfortable.

“So, La-loyd?” Lloyd didn’t look at him, but the twitch of his ears was enough for him to know he was heard.

“How’s school?”

“La-loyd?” 

* * *

 

Lloyd.

 

“How’s school?” The words rang in my ears, not from his volume but from shock. How was I supposed to respond to that? Tell the truth and get the school demolished? I can’t just tell him I’m getting bullied, I have no frame of reference on how he would react!

I jumped backwards out of habit when a charcoal hand waved in my face.

“Are you back in the land of the living, La-loyd? I asked you how was school.”

“Oh, s’ cool.” Nailed it. He didn’t look so convinced; did I take too long to reply?

“C’mon, Son. Is someone bothering you?” ~~More like the whole school~~.

“No, it’s fine. School’s fine.” I failed to resist the urge to cross my arms, I hoped I didn’t come off as too rude. Why am I so defensive? Was I [still] injured somewhere? I hoped not, I wasn’t sure what would happen if Lord Garmadon found out his son was being bullied by cheerleaders. I palpated my forearms slowly to check for contusions. I glanced at him cautiously prior to resuming my task to the upper regions of my arms.

Garmadon hummed thoughtfully at my response, thoroughly unconvinced. He noticed my hand movements halfway through.

“What are you doing with your hands?”

“ ** _Nothing._** ” I tried to say it casually, but it came out accented with a growl, which surprised me. Seriously, am I hurt? Why am I acting like this? I turned away from him, I _really_ didn’t want to screw this up. Is this just how Oni act in response to each other? No, I’m just being paranoid; I’m only like _12%_ Oni, what am I worried about?

* * *

 Garmadon.

 

Whoa, what did he say? He knew the kid was a quarter Oni, but this was ridiculous. If he’s being defensive because of his Oni side, he would only be doing so if he was wounded somewhere.

Wouldn’t hurt to check, he supposed, “La-loyd? Are you hurt?” Lloyd looked at him like a deer in headlights; well, if deer had eyes like cats. Of course, he shook his head, but why was he trying to hide it from him?

“I-I don’t know.”

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?”

“It means what I said, **_alright_** _?_ ” His son bit his lip; it seemed that he couldn’t control how he was responding.

“La-loyd, take off your hoodie.”

“ _No_.”

“How am I supposed to help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong?” This was **so** because of his Oni blood. Maybe he had to do something that resonated with Lloyd’s Oni instincts, but what? Now that was the question of the hour.

Instead of responding, he bit his arm to stop himself from speaking. “La-loyd, don’t do that! You’ll cut yourself!” He froze, it was almost eerie actually.

* * *

Lloyd.

 

“…You’ll cut yourself!”

At those words, the events at the bus stop this morning flashed through my mind screeching to a halt when I cut my lip. My hand rose to my lip, I stared blankly: it was infected.

Quietly, I murmured, “My lip’s infected.” I had aggressed it when I bit my lip again just a few moments ago, I’m such an idiot.

Garmadon blinked twice then clapped, “Well, that explains it, doesn’t it? I have my nerds bring you some saltwater and antibiotics later.”

“Oh, thanks.” My gaze shifted toward the ground before returning to meet his, “You’re not mad?”

“No, you’re an Oni like me, some things we just aren’t able to control – I mean, I am – but that’s because I’m much older than you.”

“Uh, I’m just an eighth Oni, actually.” He smirked. What, was I wrong?

“Son, you’re at least 25% Oni.” I paled slightly, that changes nothing. I’m still mostly human, and Mom says that’s all that matters. I gulped.

“I can’t believe Ko– your mother– would lie to you about that! We need to rip that bandage off right now.”

“H-how would you know?” He gave me a Look™, right, right. He’s my dad. That’s an easy detail to forget.

“I can’t believe we’re related.” I groaned, something possessed me to fall into his arms. He seemed perfectly fine with carrying me, happy even. Was this an Oni thing too? Gosh, how much of me is human?!

I felt a wave of calm when he started petting my hair. Bewildered, I nearly leapt out of his loose grip when a rumbling sound bubbled out of my chest.

“Come now, La-loyd, who else could you be related to?” He smiled at me until he answered his own question, “Besides my idiot brother, Wu. If I can, I’ll keep you far away from him.”

“Why? It’s not like he’s ever in Ninjago for long.”

“Dragons are the natural enemies of the Oni. Wait, have you met him?”

“Uh, yeah?” Was _that_ going to anger him?

“Well, don’t visit him again.”

I huffed, “Why not? He’s not even a dragon.”

“La-loyd, he’s **half** dragon.”

“He **_is_** _?_ ” He sure didn’t look it. Gosh, he never tells us anything.

“Then,” the cogwheels were turning in my head, “are you--?”

“No, he inherited all the dragon, while I got all the Oni – the better of the two if you ask me.”

“Oh.”

A loud rumble burst from my chest, “Please stop petting me. It’s weird.”

He laughed, “Purring does the body good,” I put my face in my hands, “What? It does!”

“Please don’t call it that.” I didn’t want to think of anything I do as animalistic. Oni in the school curriculum were described as savage beasts that destroyed all that was in their paths. In middle school, I had hoped that that was just the school bias due to one of Garmadon’s attacks knocking out the power for a month.

“What would you want me to call it then?”

“Rumbling?”

“That’s dumb; and besides, petting you is keeping you docile or at least from mauling me.” True.

“Yeah, right. What good can purr- _purring_ do anyway?” **_Ugh_** , that sounds _so_ weird to say.

“I had my nerds study me, like a decade ago, it helps relieves pain, self-soothes, increases bone density, and promotes healing.”

I tried to climb out of his arms, he brought me closer to his chest and said, “Watch this,” cryptically. He has so many arms, why did I think it was a good idea to lean on him earlier?

He purred **loudly.** The vibrations were oddly relaxing; as much as I hated to admit it, I found myself leaning into the sensation. He looked pleased with himself. I’ve never felt more Oni than right then; I wasn’t sure what I felt, but it was a mix between glee, disgust and fear.

He stroked my hair again, “I used to do this all the time with you when you were a baby. I see I haven’t gotten too rusty. Oni are born blind and deaf; I had to purr so you’d know I was there.”

“Don’t tell me that! I don’t want to think of myself as Oni.”

“It doesn’t matter what you want, that wouldn’t change what you are.” That almost sounded like something Uncle Wu would say.

“I don’t even look like you, I’m barely Oni at all!”

“I don’t know what your mother told you, but that’s not how genetics work.”

“Can we pretend that’s how it works? I don’t want to _purr_ when someone _pets_ me.”

“I can teach you how to control it, but that means you’ll have to embrace your Oni lineage if you’re ever going to be able to do so.”

I deflated, “Maybe another day, I need to get my lip treated.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll just run you to the medical ward. They'll have an antibiotic to kill it with.”

I was still tangled in his many arms, what other choice did I have?

I shrugged, I let myself be dragged along for the ride; I promised my mom I wouldn't start any fights ~~I couldn't win~~.

This day did not go at all like how I expected, but at least it was _informative_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only other LL word I could find was "llano", but Lloyd doesn't have a dictionary in his brain.  
> I gave the Oni the ability to purr and the same birth conditions as cats; is that too much?  
> (Now you know why Wu is always out of town, well, if you read between the lines.)  
> Eh, tell me in the comments if you like the cat-like Oni idea (I promise it won't go beyond claws and a coarse tongue).


	3. Heart-to-Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While waiting for their food to arrive, Lloyd asks some questions that were weighing on his mind. Meanwhile, Koko gets a visit from some lesser generals from the Shark Army.
> 
> ((Explanation bubbles, look out for them or just ignore them - you do you.))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu an update? Hitting Chapter 3 in any of my works is cause for celebration. But, boy, the food sure is taking a while to arrive.  
> 

Lloyd.

 

I had to eat food with my antibiotics, so Garmadon ordered his chefs to make us what he called ‘linner,’ or 'dunch,' if I preferred, as it was only 5 o’clock at the latest.

“La-loyd?” I'm not sure how to feel about being used to him calling me that.

“Yeah?”

“What are you in the mood for? If you can’t pick, I’ll just have them make you a lobster roll.”

“Um, what do you have?” He hands me a paper menu that was clearly made in Microsoft Publisher. Almost all of the contents were fish; not sure what I expected. The chefs’ names were on the back, the head chef was someone named Hatsumi Momoka. ((Last name, First name))

He saw me expecting the menu and commented, “I should get these laminated, huh?”

“Probably.” One of the items was a sushi roll dubbed the ‘Garmadon roll’ which was tako and unakyu with tobiko. ((Octopus, eel and cucumber with flying fish roe.))

“Well, I change chefs all the time, and the menus change with them.” He chortled.

“Wh-why do you change chefs all the time?”

“They try to poison me.” He waved it off.

“Oh.”

“Sometimes their cooking just sucks!”

“Um, alright?”

He took that as an invitation to explain. “One time, this one cook – _I forgot his name_ – had tried to give me improperly prepared pufferfish. That _fool_ – that _absolute_ **_ignoramus_** – forgot that Oni can handle _way more_ than what humans can. I sent him a glare that shook him to his **core** – _you should’ve seen him, La-loyd, he was **quaking** in his boots_ – and said, ‘I think you know what you tried to do. You’re fired.’ I usually don’t shoot my _chefs_ out of the volcano, _but_ I make exceptions for those who make _attempts_ on _my_ **_life_**.”

“He wasn’t the first to try and he wasn’t be the last. Remind me to check your food later; this is the second day with a new chef – she might want to pull something since you’re here now.” _Oh_ , _that’s_ **comforting**!

“I’ll take the-,” I chuckled, “- _Garmadon_ roll.”

“ _Oh_ , ha ha, but **no** you’re **not**. You’re getting the lobster roll, it’s too easy to make eel poisonous. _All she’d have to do is undercook it._ ” Nice to know.

He rang the bell, and spoke into a microphone placed on his end of the table, “Chef Hatsumi Momoka? I’ll have a Ninjago roll with extra masago, a lobster roll, and a large softshell crab for two.”

He studied my face for a moment, “I don’t know how strong your poison tolerance is; I hope we don’t find out the hard way.”

* * *

 

Garmadon.

 

Lloyd seemed uncomfortable as he shifted in his seat. He clearly didn’t like the idea of someone poisoning his food.

Maybe he should lighten the mood, “La-loyd, after this I can show you to your room. My generals should be back with your things by now. You can teach me how to play those video games and I’ll let you decide how you want to be dropped off for school. I could have you be airdropped; wouldn’t that be fun?” Lloyd had a bewildered expression on his face again, maybe not then? What did kids like these days? It's been over 150 years since he was a child, how was he supposed to know?

* * *

 

Koko.

 

There was a knock at her door, she was about to leave for her shift at NinjaMart. She hoped it was Lloyd, but Lloyd wouldn’t need to knock. He had a key.

It was one of her ex’s many generals, this one’s rank being №. 5.

She cleared her throat, “Hello, Mrs. Garmadon.” She bowed, Koko returned the gesture.

“I’m just here to pick up your son’s things.”

“Of course.” Koko took a step back so she could enter.

“Shoes off.” She nodded and left her combat boots at the doormat. Behind her were generals 6, 7, 8, and 9.

№. 6 was playing rock, paper, scissors with 8, and №. 7 was on her phone glancing up only when 9 made a noise. №. 9 was holding a large stack of boxes; his face was obscured.

№. 5 noticed her staring, “ _Oh_ , there just here in case the boss’s son has **a _lot_** of belongings.”

“His room is this way.” Koko led them to a small room past the kitchen.

The room seemed so much smaller without Lloyd there. The limited posters and the twin sized bed, which took up most of the room, gave off a claustrophobic feeling - in Koko’s opinion.  It hadn’t been a whole day, yet she already misses him. She loved him so much, she prayed to the First Spinjitzu Master that Garmadon was taking good care of him. Oh, how she missed her beautiful baby boy. She wanted to hold him like she did when he came home from school covered in scrapes and bruises.

She knew deep down that he would, he insisted on holding Lloyd all the time when he was a baby.

They were so consumed with a sense of awe, she remembered how they shared a glance that screamed, ‘ _We_ _made this_? _He’s perfect_.’ And, Garm purring always made her giggle; she blushed at a _distant_ memory. 

Koko announced to her guest(s), “I’ll be right back.”

She ran off to get a spare sheet of paper and a pen. Maybe she could leave him a note, he could be so scared right now. She scribbled down a letter as fast as she could, she knew Lloyd might want some comfort in his new surroundings. When she returned to Lloyd’s room, it was almost empty. She placed it gingerly in a box that held his clothes.

“We won’t be taking the bed.” General №. 9 stated while performing arm stretches.

“Nor the desk.” №. 7 added.

“No curtains, neither.” №. 8 supplemented.

General №. 5 sealed the last box and brought it to №. 6, “I think we’re done here.” There were only six boxes between the five of them.

She gestured to her subordinates, “We got to take these packages to the docks soon. He might fire me if we’re late. If he fires me, he’ll fire you.”

After those words left her lips they dashed out of the apartment and threw on their shoes. №. 9 left a trail of cardboard boxes wherever he went. Koko considered using that to ascertain which cargo ship led to Garmadon, but that’s for Future Koko to deal with. She’s going to be late for work!

* * *

Garmadon.

 

The dark lord tended to forget how his son was green behind the ears. There is barely a soul alive that has lived as long as he has, so there isn’t anyone more experienced than he. Lloyd will live long too, maybe even outlive him.

A soft purr emanated from his throat, it was so nice to see his son again. The boy was still growing, Garmadon had feared he was going to miss that stage of his life. Perhaps he should’ve collapsed the economy sooner. If he had, would Koko have joined him? He wasn’t sure.

Lloyd’s been so apprehensive of him, he wasn’t sure what he was doing wrong. He tried appealing to his Oni side, but maybe that wasn’t enough. Lloyd eyed everything around him like it was going to jump out and tackle him. The only thing that placated him was a good pet on his head, but he seemed like he was opposed to the idea. A _human_ approach was necessary. Garmadon could do Oni, he wasn’t as nearly as confident when it came to human affairs.

He needs to be lulled into talking, “La-loyd, you look like I’m going to attack you.”

“You might.” His son mumbled almost inaudibly.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Vexed, he spoke, “I _want_ to believe that,” his eyes darted away from his father’s, “but I _can’t_.” He clasped his hands together.

“What is this all about, Son?”

Something clicked in Garmadon’s head, “Is this about me being an _evil_ warlord?”

Lloyd’s voice cracked, “Partially.”

Garmadon racked his brain for ideas, ‘Why wouldn’t La-loyd trust me?’

“Do you think I would fire you out of the volcano?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? Before today, I had only ever seen you on TV; I don’t really know who you are outside of the warlording thing.” Did the Oni bonding not work? He thought it was working; then again, Lloyd _is_ more human than his father. There has to be another way to show him that he cares; they haven’t play fought yet, was that a viable option? Lloyd seemed like he desired conversation. Could Garmadon do that; could he talk to him like a _normal person_?

He could try, it never hurt too much to try.

* * *

Lloyd.

 

“Then today, you were acting like-,”

‘- _you loved me_ ,’ I almost said. Uncle Wu affirmed that as the Green Ninja, it was my duty as leader to put an end to Garmadon’s reign; would I have to kill him someday? My heart ached as it longed for that raw affection that only a parent could provide; I knew it wasn't a purely human experience, I was drawn to the older Oni for reasons I couldn't express. Overwhelmed by an impromptu rush of nausea, I almost vomited before I could even be potentially poisoned by the food.

I sighed, I felt torn. I _yearned_ to believe that, but _c’mon:_ he’s **evil**. The moment he learns I’m the _Green Ninja_ – what would happen? Would it all vanish into smoke? As much as I’ve _always_ wanted a father, I know when things are _too good to be true_ ; like in elementary school when Chen said he sought to be my friend, only to leave me out in the rain hanging by the seat of my pants in a tree.

I can’t get close to him, that would make things hurt even more if the time comes for – I couldn’t contemplate it, it’s too fresh.

My head jostled on my shoulders, “Dad?” That word was foreign on my tongue, but it didn’t carry the same distaste it would when Cole would say it or the unyielding love that it would give off when someone like Jay or Zane implemented it. No, it sounded hollow when I swung this sword, like I didn’t believe what I was saying – and, I wasn’t sure if I did.

I had to ask this enquiry, the events of today were all pointing to it. If I didn’t say it now, it would be lost to the sands of time forever, “D-do you love me for me – all of me? Or just the part of me that’s Oni?”

“I’d-I’d love you even if you weren’t Oni.” That kind of dodged the question. Is it too soon?

“La-loyd, why would you think I wouldn’t love you?” I thought of Cole’s father, Lou: he didn’t love Cole – not really – he only cared for Cole because he could continue his legacy. Was Garmadon the same way?

I couldn’t find the words at first, so I stared at the rouge and navy blue tablecloth and noticed the absence of knifes. Was I supposed to use my teeth to chomp through the lobster's shell?

“Do you love _me_ or do you love what I can _give you_?” Garmadon’s leather chair screeched as he stood from his seat.

“What are you talking about, La-loyd?” I scrutinized his face: all I could read was pain and confusion. He made his way toward me.

“I was so excited when I got that email because I knew it meant I could get a chance to know **_you_**. I didn’t know what you looked like when I arrived at your school to bring you home, and I didn’t even _know_ nor _care_ if your Oni DNA was dominant or not; I just wanted to _meet_ you.” I said nothing, but maintained eye contact. I felt a primordial need to get closer to him; I knew it was probably going to be a mistake, yet I began to stand. Garmadon was halfway across the table, how could anyone love someone they’ve never known?

“La-loyd, I’ve loved you ever since the very moment you were born, nothing in the entire world is going to change that.” A raw sob of relief escaped me as I sprinted to him. I had never in my wildest dreams thought I’d ever covet a hug from Lord Garmadon, but there we were.

He patted my back, “You could’ve been part **_dragon_** and I still would’ve loved you.” He stroked my hair as I wept.

I sniffled, “Wha-what about Uncle _Wu_?” He pulled away from the embrace to establish eye-contact.

“He, he annoys the – how old are you?” Garmadon appeared to be doing calculations in his head.

“Fourteen.”

“ _Heck_ out of me, but I wouldn’t, like, send my troops out to _assassinate_ him. At the end of the day, as much as I hate to say it, he’s still my brother.” I could tell that that was Garmadon-speak for ‘I care about him, despite being a pain in the neck.’

He didn’t hesitate to mess up my hair again, willing to take full advantage of the proximity. I snickered as I shunted him, he guffawed and pulled me in for a noogie.

This felt good, wouldn’t be surprised if it felt too good; I knew it could all be destroyed the instant he finds out I’m the Green Ninja, but it might not be. Whilst I nuzzled him, I wiped unshed tears from my eyes with a meager grin; here’s hoping it works itself out.

What had I said before about not getting too close? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions, leave 'em in the comments. I'll love to answer your inquiries. (Also, linner or dunch?)
> 
> Read below for my announcement.  
> I'll post Chapter 4, at some point - hopefully before the end of the month (I want to make this a monthly fic, but your influx of comments made me focus on writing this). It includes some _big_ , potentially game-changing surprises (hopefully I get to them, Lloyd & Garm needed to chat this chapter, so I couldn't incorporate some things in this one. I think I'll break it into shorter chapters to fit it all in, you guys cool with that?).
> 
> ((I'd like to work on Prolif. C. since that one has a timeline while this one doesn't & my other fics need attention too.))  
> LL is unique in its writing, through the shifting perspectives and the lack of any outline, (so like my school essays). I'm excited to see where this goes, I thank you for your support.
> 
> Anyway, I'm going to try to get a job soon, so that's why I'm updating now. As much fun as I'm having writing this, I-I should probably try to make some money before I'm forcefully shipped off into college in the Spring (or even the Fall, if I fail at the job-hunting jig).


	4. Lore and Spores.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lads eat dunch.  
> Lloyd calls his mum, Garm eavesdrops (Nice one, Garm).  
> ((I love to teach you kids* new words - I may have a problem.)) <\- My parentheses.  
> (Oh no.) <\- Lloyd's or whoever's POV-ing at the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sibilate = hiss.  
> glaucous = pale green, sometimes blue (denim hue)  
> Sorry, Lloydy-boy, I just work here!  
> This chapter is a merge between 4 & 5 (Which was in essence 4B), it is very important to read going forward.

Lloyd.

 

Sooner or later, leaning toward being the latter, the food had arrived. Our seats had changed slightly, as we sat adjacently to one another instead of on separate ends of the dining table.

I cleared my throat, “Oh, that’s right. We didn’t order drinks, did we?”

“ _The **poison**_.” I sibilated.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

I soon came to regret that decision as that invited Garmadon to eat and lick various parts of my food. That was repellant, but not as disgusting as knowing that Chef Hatsumi gave me moldy bread with my lobster roll. When he rolled it over he saw the bottom of it, at least one third of it was covered in a pale – almost white – glaucous _mold_.

Garmadon almost screamed at the sight, but brushed it off, “I’ve seen worse things on the battlefield.” I didn’t doubt it.

The lobster itself wasn’t bad, Garmadon confirmed, it was only the bread that was tainted. That being said, he did take a huge bite out of my lobster and I wasn’t interested in eating it anymore. I ate some of his sushi once he confirmed it was poison free, and watched in horror as he placed his ginger on top of it and proceeded to consume them simultaneously.

“That’s not how you eat sushi, Dad! The ginger is a palate cleanser!”

“What? Am I not supposed to throw the baby out with the bathwater?”

“Tha-that isn’t how the phrase goes.”

“I, I knew that.”

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. My mind was plagued with guilt pertaining my lobster roll’s bread: what if she didn’t have malicious intent? What if it’s because of me that she gets shot out of the volcano; isn’t that fatal?

“Hey, Dad?” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. What kind of leather was this? I had never seen these patterns before.

“Yes, Son?”

“Since Chef Hatsumi didn’t poison our food, can you not fire her?”

“She fed you mold!”

“We don’t know if that was on purpose! Haven’t you ever made a hamburger with moldy buns before?” His eyes fell to his plate before starting to flicker back and forth as he searched for a memory like that.

Dumbfounded, he decided to humor me, “I don’t understand why you’re being so adamant about this. It’s not like shooting people out of the volcano kills them, it just, you know, gives them second degree burns or something.” Still as morally gray as ever, eh, Garmadon? I remained firm so he could see how serious I was, I hoped he’d listen if he knew I cared.

He relented in our spur-of-the-moment staring contest, “Fine, La-loyd. I’ll honor your request by ordering her to get her eyes checked; but if she doesn’t need glasses, I’m shooting her out the volcano.” That was a start, it felt good to be victorious. Distantly, I wondered if that was an Oni thing to feel too. I reassured myself that it wasn’t, then I took a bite out of the moldy bread while I was distracted.

Garmadon would’ve spat out his drink if he ordered one, he cackled at me as I tried to gag, “Did you eat the moldy hamburger buns too?” Sometimes, but I didn’t say anything in embarrassment.

“You sure you don’t want me to fire her out the volcano?”

I had tears in my eyes from dry heaving, “Yeah, I’m positive.” I wished we had ordered beverages because then I could get the fuzzy taste of wet dirt out of my mouth. Today was just **_full_** _of surprises!_

* * *

“Alone at last.” I sighed as I locked the door to my new room. I opened the boxes sent over from our – my mom’s – apartment. As nice as it was to spend time with him, it was getting uncomfortable; I ran my hand through my tangled mane, it got caught in my web of hairs. I winced, and _that_ will take a while to brush out; I started as soon as I found my brush.

Homesickness engulfed me when I saw how different this room was from mine back at the apartment. The room itself was huge as was everything in it: the bed was king-sized, the desk was twice as big as his old one, and the closet was big enough to house his old room. Merely hearing Mom’s voice would alleviate my homesickness, so why not ask her about some stuff?

“Mom, did you know I was **twenty-five** **percent** Oni?” My voice was accusatory, I didn’t like the idea that she was lying to me about something as important as that.

She denied, “You’re not _twenty-five_ percent Oni; who told you _that_?”

“Dad.”

“ **Oh** , _well_ , that was our initial estimate, but that’s not the right number. I checked for the real number as soon as we entered Ninjago.”

“Then what is it? Am I actually _twelve_ percent Oni?” Hope swam with the butterflies in my stomach; it was nauseating.

“ _No_ , I have it here _somewhere_.” I couldn’t hear anything on the other line aside from papers rustling and drawers being drawn and shut.

“Ah, _here it is_! Let’s see,” She hummed as she skimmed the contents, “ ** _Oh_** , _now_ I remember _why_ _I never told you_.”

“Why? What does it say?” I put my brush down, at least all the knots were out now.

“Don’t freak out.” That’s as efficient as telling a stressed person to calm down.

“Just tell me.”

“Okay, but I promise it doesn’t change anything; you’re still my baby, okay?” _Oh_ , this is going to be **_bad_** , _isn’t it_?

“Mom, say it. I promise I won’t freak out.”

“Okay, here it goes,” She swallowed, “ _Thirty-eight percent_.”

* * *

 Garmadon.

 

“ ** _What?!_** ”

He wasn’t spying on his son. He simply heard a shout, and then from there, decided to listen in on the conversation; _totally different_ from deliberately spying on his son from the get-go.

He could only hear Lloyd’s side of the conversation from the door, “ _Mom,_ ” the boy whined, “That makes me _almost_ as Oni as _Dad_!” He was talking to Koko? What’s this about being ‘ _almost as Oni as Garmadon?’_ He pressed his ears against the wall.

“ _Thi_ -thirty-eight percent? No, no, _no, no, no_! **_No_**!” _Wow_ , that was _way_ more Oni than he would’ve expected. He could work with that.

Having entered a mild state of denial, Lloyd continued, “I can’t be _38_ % Oni. Surely the test was a fluke, _right_? _An error_?”

“What does this mean for me? Mom, I’m not going to have _four arms_ , am I? Or _Stygian skin_?” There was a pause as he waited for Koko’s response.

“I don’t want to ‘ _wait and find out,’_ I don’t want to be Oni! I don’t want to act Oni, and I definitely don’t want to _look_ Oni. I could handle being twelve or even _twenty-five_ percent Oni, but this is too much Oni than I’m prepared to deal with.” His ear twitched as he heard Lloyd’s bed creak; there was a long break before Lloyd spoke again.

He was much calmer when he replied, “ _I know_. Dad said something similar earlier today, it’s just – what am I supposed to do with this information?”

He exhaled, “I feel like there’s more to Dad and this whole Oni business than I need to know.”

“Is it a _crime_ to want to be _human_?”

“I’ll talk to you later, Mom. I need some time to think.” Is the conversation over? Garmadon stumbled off of Lloyd’s door, dusting his robes off; his arms were stiff from eavesdropping. He had to pretend he was doing something if Lloyd opened the door; he pulled out his phone –.

“No,” Garmadon grumbled, “that wouldn’t work.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket and placed another hand on the door, only for him to fall into Lloyd’s room.

“Dad!” Lloyd had come to aide and helped him up.

“That door wasn’t locked, like, five seconds ago.”

“How long have you been here? Were you-?”

“I heard you scream and came to investigate. Wasn’t expecting you to be on a phone call.” Should he have not mentioned that it was a phone call he heard?

“So, so you know?” The answer was ‘yes,’ but Garmadon was curious as to which part Lloyd was referring to.

“Know what?” Lie, “It was all muffled.” Well done, Garmadon. He couldn’t stop his ~~cocky~~ confident smirk from showing. Lloyd was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice, or was he pretending not to notice?

He spoke so quickly that Garmadon almost didn’t catch it, “I’m38%Oni!” He quirked an eyebrow at his son. What was he so worried about; it was like he thought being Oni was a bad thing? He sat on his bed to get a little closer to eye level; his son was so small.            ((I used numbers this time for reading convenience.))

“Why wasn’t it just twenty-five like you said?” Wasn’t he freaking out about being twenty-five percent Oni like two hours ago?

What did those bio nerds say about genetics? They were raving to him about Y-chromosomes and epigenetics, but he couldn’t remember much of their stammering lectures.

He shrugged, “Not everything’s a fifty-fifty split, La-loyd. Also, a lot of things are determined if you have a Y-chromosome; that might have something to do with it.”

“You think?” Was that adoration Garmadon spotted sparkling in Lloyd’s eyes?

“That or your mom is part Oni.” ‘Whoops, shouldn’t’ve said that out loud; that opens a whole new can of worms.’

“Wh-what did you say?!” The older Oni hybrid recoiled, then tried to downplay it.

“It’s just a suspicion of mine.” Lloyd’s fixed gaze forced him to elaborate.

“I mean, I’ve had many lovers in the past,” two or three actually, he was way overselling it; he’s never been much of a lady’s man. He remembered dating male serpentine during the War. Wait, weren’t those the generals?!

“And none of them could bear a child. Koko shows up on the battlefield kicking everyone’s as– _butts_ –,” He hastily amended.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Don’t interrupt.” Kids these days.

“Like I said, kicking butt and staying toe-to-toe with me. I flirt, she flirts back; two years later, we find out we can have a child together from one of my medics. Needless to say, I was surprised. When Wu told me after the Serpentine War that he couldn’t have children, I figured it would apply to me-,”

“Wait, the Serpentine War? That was over one hundred years ago. How old-?”

“We’re getting off-topic, _anyway,_ I don’t know what made her different from my past lovers. I do know that full Oni can shapeshift and use a powerful offensive magic, maybe Oni hybrids can occur naturally?”

Lloyd was about to say something, but the warlord spoke first, “Well, as natural as shapeshifting gets.”

“Do, do you think there are more people out there like me – and you?” Including his father as an afterthought, eh?

“I don’t know, Oni haven’t been to this realm in a really long time. We’re talking in terms of millennia – centuries at best. If there are other Oni hybrids, they’d be _very_ diluted, so much so that they may have no Oni abilities whatsoever.”

“Lucky.” Lloyd spat, green with envy. Garmadon couldn’t understand why for the life of him.

“Why, they’d practically be human! Where’s the fun in that?”

* * *

 

Lloyd.

 

“What _fun_ is it to be _Oni_?” As far as I could tell, it was **terrifying** and almost purely instinctual.

“There’s _plenty_ fun to be had being Oni; you just haven’t seen that side of the coin yet.” Oh, _yeah_ _right_.

“How about this, Son? Once you’re done unpacking, we can go to the training room and spar–," he bore his fangs in a mischievous simper, " _Oni style_.” I gulped.

“It won’t be painful, I promise, and – how about this? To sweeten the deal, since you’re so _afraid_ of indulging your inner Oni, if you _do_ get hurt, I’ll make you breakfast in bed or buy you _any_ video game of your choice!” That man knew how to broker a deal.

He had his lower right hand outstretched, “What do you say?” I knew I was supposed to say no, but the bribery was working on me. Wu said true ninja have no desires for mortal objects - whatever that means - but I think he just hates seeing us play video games in the warehouse. He doesn't like us using mechs either, but our fists won't dent a mech (well, maybe Cole's) - let alone an army of mechs; sometimes we got to fight fire with fire.

“What do _I_ say?” I looked between his hand and mine, his was clawed. What was the offer again? (I got a little distracted.)

I shook it, albeit loosely, “I better not be making a _deal with the devil_.”

“You _flatter_ me, La-loyd.” He winked with a chuckle.

“That **_wasn’t_** a _compliment_!”

“I’m just messing with you, lad.” I felt a hand slide through my hair.

Hissing like a cat, I swiped at him, “I _just_ fixed that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((I'm howling, I foreshadowed Lloyd's heritage to the amount of mold on his bread! Why the h*ck did I do that?))  
> I have no idea what my audience is: tell me in the comments, so I can have Garm swear in his thoughts.  
> I've got a week before I start applying for jobs, I'm writing this because you kids keep feeding me comments - which is like writing juice! (By all means keep doing it, I've never written this much on a single story in my life. If I hit 12k words, I'll show you guys concept art - it won't be spoilers by then I hope.)


	5. Unpacked and Unprepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garmadon makes some errs in judgement and so does Lloyd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The seeds have been planted.  
> This chapter's a bit longer than my usual ones, not by too much.  
>  _"Flashback text!"_

Lloyd.

 

It only took an hour and a half, but I was finally done unpacking. I looked at the room as a whole, it was starting to feel like it was mine. I turned to the bed, the shark-themed bedsheets could probably be swapped out later.

I didn’t want to start sparring right away, so I pulled out my GameBoy and booted up Metroid II. I was pretty lost, how was I supposed to know where I was in the game when there was no map? I couldn’t turn up the volume to hear the music, I worried Garmadon would pick up on it.

On cue, a louder than necessary knock pierced the near-silence of my room. ( _I guess it’s my room now._ )

“La-loyd, is everything okay in there? Are you done unpacking?” I shut my GameBoy off and stowed it under my pillow.

“Yes?” Had I remembered to lock the door?

The door swung open as Garmadon exclaimed, “Fantastic, let’s go.”

“Can’t we do this tomorrow-?” He grabbed my arm and slung me over his shoulder in a fluid motion.

“ _No_. We shook on it.”

I puffed and agreed, “We _did_ shake on it.”

Unable to protest, Garmadon dragged me to his private training room. It was huge and filled with all sorts of training equipment. Vine-like appendages hung from the ceiling, it reminded me of a jungle.

“I usually train my highest generals here, or come here to let loose on stressful days.”

“You know, La-loyd, I was a ninja before I started the warlord biz.” Wu never mentioned that. What were those kids always chanting in middle school? The apple never falls too far from the tree?

“You were? Why are you bringing this up?” Does he suspect something?

“You don't get to be a warlord without knowing a thing or two about the ninja arts,” he paused for emphasis, “The dark ninja arts.” I rolled my eyes while he was setting me down.

“So what? Aren’t we just sparring?”

“I’m saying that I want you to show me whatever your mother or Wu taught you.”

“Oh, um.” If I fight too well, he might suspect that I’m a ninja. If I fight too poorly, he might take it upon himself to train me. Gosh, I’m between a rock and a hard place.

“What about this is connected to Oni sparring?”

“Stop asking questions and let me gauge your strength, don’t hold back. Trust me,” Dude, you’re a dark lord.

“I can take anything you can dish out, my son.” Whatever choice I was going to make I knew I was going to regret it.

 

I discovered, about five minutes in, that he was more or less a glorified punching bag. He didn’t attack, he only made me aware of openings in my defense.

When a couple of my jabs landed, he stated, “You’re pulling your punches.” ‘Come on, La-loyd, focus! Get into Ninja Mode™!’ All concentration was lost when something clicked, ‘Di-did I just call myself _La-loyd_?’

“Hit me with all you’ve got, close your eyes if you have to. Let me see your power.” I tried to use my frustration as fodder for my next punch. I aimed for his liver.

Garmadon staggered back, “Whoa ho ho, going for the kill, are we?” My blood was rushing in my ears as they folded closer the sides of my head.

I could’ve said, “That’s for putting me in this situation!” or “That’s for destroying the city and separating me from Mom!” but I said, “ ** _You_** ,”

* * *

 Garmadon.

 

“ ** _You_**.”

“What’s gotten into you? What did I do?” Lloyd was seething in rage, he had to calm him down.

“ _You got me saying it!_ ” What’s all this about?

“Saying what?”

“’La-loyd!’” His name?

“That’s just how you’re supposed to say your name; calm down. I think I got a good idea now.” That just came out of nowhere. He reached forward to pet him in a vain attempt to fix this madness.

“ ** _That’s_** ,” he stroked his ears, which appeared to have black speckles on them (Were those always there?), “ _That’s_ ,” He seemed infinitely calmer now, “not how you say it.”

“That’s how I intended for it to be pronounced. I don’t understand; why is this bothering you so much?”

“I-I don’t know, I’m mad at you about a bunch of other stuff too, but that one was the easiest to say.” Lloyd’s pupils had been slits for a while, it was clear he didn’t like this.

“How about we start the fun part now?” Lloyd was light in the many arms of Garmadon.  
“Wh-what are doing?” The younger Oni was tossed high into the air a couple of times.

“I’m not pizza, I don’t need to be tossed!” His son hollered from twenty feet in the air.

Misjudging Lloyd’s distance from himself, Lloyd fell on Garmadon’s face. He was going to feel _that_ in the morning. Lloyd hurried to get on his feet.

“Okay, I want you to charge at me as I am going to charge at you. Think of it like sumo wrestling.” He took six paces back, Lloyd took eight.

When he began to run at his son, he hesitantly ran at him too. To avoid impact, the warlord slid under his child and caught him with his hands and feet.

Lloyd gasped, elevated by Garmadon’s legs, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Let’s play another game. The rules will be simple: it’s Tag but you can hide and who isn’t _it_ gets a head start. Okay? I’ll be _it_ first, you’ve got until I’ve counted to thirty to find a good hiding place.”

“Dad, I’m fourteen, not ten. Why’re playing this game?”

“To build stamina.” If one sounds confident enough, anyone will believe them.

The moment the first numbers came out of his mouth, Lloyd scurried away to look for a decent refuge.

It was an unspoken rule that whoever counts also covers their eyes, so he complied. Garmadon didn’t actually need to see Lloyd to know where he was – or the general area of where he was.

Come to think of it, the game was just Hide-and-go-seek turned Tag after the first stage. He had picked the game because it enticed an Oni’s need to practice hunting and a preference for dark places.

He found Lloyd hiding ‘behind’ a punching bag, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting from his son but this was laughable. Did he even need to try sensing him when he was almost in plain sight? Oh, well, practice is practice, he supposed.

“Now you’re _it_!” Lloyd pounced at him tagging him mere moments after proclaiming the newest _it_.

“What? How’d you do that?” Lloyd giggled in triumph, his laugh reminded the old warlord of Koko. He missed her, he wondered if she still loved him after all these years; he’ll never know for as long as Ninjago goes unconquered.

“No matter,” He lunged at his son who nimbly dodged, “I’m gonna get you, just you wait.”

Lloyd dashed away from Garmadon, how was he moving so fast? Fortunately, Garmadon was the one with the longer legs.

“Whew,” He huffed, “Maybe I’m getting too old for this.”

“Is this what the Oni style of training is supposed to feel like? It feels great!”

There was a strange lilac gleam emitting from his pupils and the natural glow that came from his irises had intensified to match the purple of the pupils.

‘Oh no,’ Garmadon knew what that meant, ‘I’ve overstimulated him.’

Lloyd was laughing almost maniacally and was concurrently running around in circles and bouncing on the trampoline.

“Stand still, boy!”

“No, not ‘ntil you catch me!” He might need to be knocked out, but Garmadon would try the nonviolent way first in case that works.

“La-loyd, I think you should head to bed now. It’s late.”

“I can’t stop now!” Why that lad was practically bouncing off the walls.

Well, you know what they say? Garmadon sent himself flying towards Lloyd to capture him mid-jump. It worked; he concealed the boy in his arms, incasing him in a protective shell, as they tumbled to the ground. (That was going to bruise for sure.)

“That was fun!” Unamused, Garmadon eyed his son with a tired expression; lavender light was still being reflected or emitted (Garmadon wasn’t certain) by his pupils. He decided to take the Occam’s razor approach.

“Can we do it agai-?” With a swift chop to the neck, Lloyd was out like a light to Garmadon's relief.

* * *

 

Lloyd.

 

A dark miasma expanded for as far as I could see. I could barely see my hands in front of me.

Something about my hands was different, but I couldn’t place it while immersed in the smog. I followed the occasional sparks of violet light like a moth to a flame. Sometimes the sparks would take different shapes: rabbits, birds, butterflies, etc. Like wil-o’-wisps, they seemed like they were leading me somewhere.

“Lloyd.”

“La-loyd.”

“Come over here.”

“This way.”

“Over here.”

“Follow me.”

These phrases played on a loop as Lloyd trailed the wisps.

At the epicenter of the shadowy labyrinth was a small mauve orb of light. It released sparks every couple of seconds and had reflective properties. The whispers changed as I approached the object.

“Come closer.”

“Touch it.”

“Touch the orb.”

My hands reached out on their own to the softball-sized sphere. I caught a glimpse of reflection for those brief seconds it remained solid in my hands: I looked like the spitting image of my father, the only difference being my hair, two arms, and no white markings on my pitch-black body. I tried to let go of it but it stuck to my fingers like glue.

I woke with a scream.

* * *

 I didn’t recognize where I was immediately, but the shark-themed bedsheets gave me a gentle reminder. I rolled up the sleeves of my pajama top. I skimmed my skin for anything unusual.

I clenched the fabric over my heart, “It was just a dream. _Just a dream, just a dream_.” I chanted as I tried to slow my rapid breaths.

I spotted a bit of onyx-colored tissues on my elbow, “ ** _Ah_**! It _wasn’t_ just a dream!” I pealed the bedsheets off of me.

I hesitated on jumping out of my bed, ‘I don’t remember falling asleep. Did Dad tuck me in?’ I had no memory after our game of tag began, did something happen?

I looked at my pajamas, ‘I don’t remember putting these on either!’

Once in the bathroom, I unbuttoned my shirt and threw it on the ground.

Then I saw it, my skin on my elbows was so dark one would believe it had been charred, “I can hide this.”

My ears perked in shock and I noticed that they had received the same treatment, “I can hide this.” I pushed them under my hair.

I pulled up the pant legs of the pajama pants, I just had to make sure it wasn’t anywhere else. On my knees, the blacked skin.

“I can hide this.” I thought about calling Mom, I glanced at the digital clock installed in the washroom: “3-o’-7 AM.” Maybe I won’t have to call her.

I reentered the bedroom, unzipped my backpack and pulled out my scissors.

I returned to the bathroom mirror, if my skin grows back as its normal color after I cut it, then I’ll know this is reversible.

I held the scissors up to my right elbow, I closed my eyes and snipped. The pain was _way_ more intense than I was expecting, I barely suppressed a yowl. I poured some hydrogen peroxide on it; the burning sensation made my eyes water.

Garmadon shouted from behind my bedroom door, “La- _loyd!_ ”

* * *

_“Lloyd!”_

_Mom had kicked the door down to our shared bathroom. She came home to the sound of grinding teeth._

_She found me with a nail file held up to my teeth, “Lloyd, what are you doing?” She swiped it from me in an instant._

_“I t’ought if I fixed my teef the kids at school wouldn’t pick on me anymore for lookin’ like Dad.”_

_“Oh, Lloyd, sweetie.” She placed the nail file on the countertop._

_“Please never doing anything like this again. Do you know what would’ve happened if you had done this to your **adult** teeth?”_

_“No.”_

_“We would’ve had to take you to the dentist to get your teeth ripped out so they could grow back!”_

_“But I don’t like my teef.”_

_“Lloyd, they’re all you’ve got. You need to take care of them.”_

_“I’m sorry.”_

_“It’s okay, sweetie, just don’t scare me like me that.” She kissed my forehead._

_She threw the nail file into the trash bin while suppressing a snarl, “I’m going to have a **chat** with your teachers later about your bullies.” _

_“T’ey didn’t used to be mean. My teef made ‘em mean.”_

_“No, Lloyd, it wasn’t your teeth. It was those kids’ **parents** , it’s not fair to you for you to be treated so badly just because your father invades every week.”_

_“Why does he?” I gazed at her with large, innocent eyes. She placed the palm of her hand on my head._

_“I-I don’t know, but I like to think it’s because he wants to see **you**.”_

* * *

“La-loyd, are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, I just had a nightmare.” I shouted back.

A few seconds passed in silence, “Do you wanna talk about it?” I felt like my dream was more like a prophesy than anything else, I didn’t want to tell him about it because that would mean telling him that I thought of Oni as **demons** \- _like the rest of Ninjago_.

“Not, not right now. Maybe later.” I wrapped my elbow in some toilet paper. It was bleeding profusely; Wu had taught us first aid, I’ll be fine. I threw on a gray tank top and my jade hoodie for good measure.

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m going back to sleep.”

“Well, good night, Son.”

“G’night.”

My elbow would probably be done healing in the morning, there was nothing to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I can't believe it. I'm finally done with Day 1!
> 
> *Koko voice* Lloyd, you stop that right now!  
> Things get more graphic from here on out, not like _gory_ or anything, just more - you know - _defined._  
>  I took a break from this story to write more about Cole, but I'll update soon. Sorry for the wait, I've had to move to working on my phone, so it'll be a bit - the next chapter could be as long as 6K. ((Delete Later))


	6. You might want to sit down for this one.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta catch you up before I can show you the concept art. (I'm not an artist: I'm an engineer, so set your expectations low.)  
>  _Long_ story short: Lloyd's Oni puberty hit full swing. Garmadon gets pestered. Dareth can and will take up most of our time, he's an exposition magnet. **How do I get rid of him?**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, I needed to take a break from this story - and researching which claws were best suited for an Oni took a while. I kept my promise to keep it monthly, I'm _very tired._  
>  ((Note: when Garmadon is the POV, read Lloyd as La-loyd when unspoken.)At least that's what I do.)  
> "hēihēi" is a Chinese laugh exclusive to the mischievous. (Providing context is a wonderful con _cept_.) (( ~~Shoot me.~~ ))

Lloyd.

The room was still dark when the alarm went off. I realized then that my new room didn’t have any windows - probably because I was _inside a volcano_! I could still see however, there was a sliver of light leaking out from the bottom of the doorframe and my alarm clock created enough to dimly illuminate the whole room. Something about that felt off, had I been able to see in the dark before? I don’t think I ever considered it as a kid.

A loud knock pierced the newfound silence like if a knife had popped a balloon.

“La-loyd? Are you awake? Do you want something specific for breakfast or is cereal fine?”

“What? Uh, yeah. That’s fine.” My voice was still dry from waking up. I rubbed my eyes and opened my new drawers to grab a pair of pants. The grogginess I felt that morning compelled me to not bother taking off my pajama pants, so I wore an oversized pair of jeans over them. It took time to put it on, but only like two or three whole minutes of concentration. My elbow still burned when it was bent, that kind of slowed me down. Standing up caused stars to obscure my vision, I must’ve been dehydrated – from earlier. It took me longer than usual to adapt to the fluorescent lights illuminating the hallways.

After I stiffly entered the dining room, I regretted my decision to wear two pairs of pants. I unzipped my hoodie and sat down at the nearest seat, ignoring the slight ache in my joints as I did so.

“Glad to see you finally made it.” I only made a noise of acknowledgement; I wasn’t much of a morning person.

“I don’t normally eat cereal,” Garmadon admitted, “But I have some cheerios if you want that.”

“Sure, that sounds good.” I slumped into my chair.

He analyzed me briefly with the quick scan of his lava-red eyes, “Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I think, I think I just need some water.” I dismissed.

I busied myself by making a bowl of cereal. I grabbed a fork by mistake, but I already dipped it in the bowl. My fingers were starting to hurt more.

Somehow, it was a mistake to use my right hand to rub my temple, not that I knew that at that very moment.

His eyes widened at the sight of my arm, “Is that **blood**?” Dried blood.

I blinked multiple times and glanced at it, “Seriously?!” I could’ve sworn I wrapped it up how Wu taught me to.

I groaned into the table, “Ugh, I _literally_ **just** got this hoodie.” I didn’t want to wash it so soon worried that I wouldn’t get it back right away. I took off that sleeve, I definitely needed to redo the bandages.

Upon seeing my elbow after some of the blood-soaked toilet paper tumble off, he set his coffee mug down and rushed to my side, “La- _loyd, what happened? You’re hurt_ !”

* * *

_“Lloyd, what happened? You’re hurt!” I had come home with another black eye that Wednesday._

_“It’s nothing, Mom.” It didn’t obscure my vision; it was already healing. According to Mom, Oni heal faster than humans, but aren’t I human - at least more so than Oni?_

_She didn’t flinch at my instinctive growl, she was more than used to it, “I’m tired of seeing you come home from school covered in bruises or missing a tooth.” She peeled open my lips to study my teeth. My front teeth were still growing back in from Friday; they were just as sharp as the other ones. The only thing that discerned my canines was their size. (They were about twice as tall as my other teeth.)_

_“If you had friends those bullies wouldn’t be able to hurt you anymore. Why aren’t you making friends, Lloyd?” I crossed my arms._

_I threw my arms up in the air, “How can I? No one even looks at me! How can I make friends when no one wants anything to do with me?” My ears drooped, I wanted to cry._

_“This is all_ **_Dad’s fault_ ** _. They only mess with me because of_ _him_ _. I_ **_hate_ ** _him.” Tears slid quietly down my cheeks._

_“Lloyd, I’m sure when your father invades it’s not to give you grief.” She tucked some of my hair behind my ear._

_“He doesn’t know what he’s doing is hurting you.” She wiped a stray tear off._

_“Why are you defending him? He’s_ **_evil_ ** _!” Only a malevolent person could ruin someone else’s life like Garmadon had; I couldn’t go anywhere without being treated like rubbish. It wasn’t_ **_fair_ ** _; why should I get punished and/or blamed for crimes I didn’t commit?_

 _I gasped and looked at her as if she had partaken in treason, “You aren’t on_ _his_ _side, are you?” She wasn’t evil, was she? (No, that’s ridiculous.)_

_“Lloyd, you shouldn’t hate someone you’ve never met.” She sighed, her features softening._

_“_ _'Evil’_ _only really applies to his career path; although, I wish he’d send us a postcard every now and then, but that would mean giving him our address – and I can’t do that.”_

_I sniffled, “Why not?”_

_“He may try to take you with him if he ever had the chance. I don’t want to risk endangering you.”_

_“Why would he do that?”_

_She pulled out a picture of all three of us from when I was two months old; she always seemed to have it on her person, “He was_ **_devastated_ ** _when – we departed. If I know him - and believe me I_ **_know_ ** _him - he just wants you in his life. His_ **_obsession_ ** _with conquering Ninjago CIty may have something to do with how willing he is to do whatever it takes to achieve that.”_

* * *

I ripped it off but it wavered to the ground, “Whoa, whoa, don’t leave your wrappings on the floor.” He scooped them up and threw them in a nearby wastebasket. I was mildly perplexed as to why fire extinguishers were present beside each one we passed getting here. ‘ _What? Do things_ spontaneously **_combust_ ** _around here?_ ’

I couldn’t seem to grip it for very long, my hands were trembling. I wasn’t sure if it was from the raw panic that surged through me at the sight of the darkened skin spreading or the distracting pain in my fingers. Whatever it was, I felt it in my bones.

I rested my head on the table face-down and groaned, “I _can’t_ hide this.”

“’Can’t hide _what_?’ What are you hiding?”

I gestured to the onyx-colored patches of skin that was multiplying as it traversed my forearm from the elbow down, “ **That**! I swear it wasn’t like this yesterday.”

“It’s spreading?!” I blanched. I felt like I was going to faint.

I held my arm aloft as Garmadon examined it. While the wound scabbed over, that’s about all it did.

“La-loyd,” I heard him say through the haze, “This looks _deliberate,_ who-?” I looked away like a dog that had tracked mud into the house.

“Di-did you do this?” I rubbed my eye, it was starting to water. I shoved cereal into my mouth with my fork to avoid talking; my arch nemesis* (could I really call him that anymore?) frowned at my efforts to stall.

He almost screamed, “ ** _What_ ** ?! Why did you **mutilate your flesh!**? What am I supposed to tell your mother if you contract tetanus or something? You’re supposed to be _safe_ under _my_ watch.”

That action really aggravated my hand, I let out a squall without being aware of it until after it occurred.

I dropped my fork and dipped my hand into the cool almond milk; all dairy products had to be imported from Octan (I don't think have to say why they won’t deliver to volcanoes, but they don't ship to Ninjago neither. Is it too far?).

My hands trembled when I removed them from what was practically a _liquid_ ice pack. My fingers had become swollen almost exclusively at the fingertips. My fingernails looked longer at first glance; but that wasn't the case, the nail bed had been shifted up slightly. The skin underneath my nails had taken on the same ashen appearance as the skin on my elbows. 

I glanced at Dad silently pleading for help; the overwhelming feeling of vulnerability made me want to seek _something (Someone?)_ \- I couldn't place it - but I needed to feel safe. At that very moment my instincts couldn't decide if my father was an ally or not, so I hissed. I don't remember ever hissing before, but who’s to say I hadn’t. My vision was tunneling and flooding with multicolored stars, the last thing I saw was Dad catching me in his arms with a worried expression plastered across his features. It was hard to distinguish him from the void that threatened to swallow me whole.

* * *

Koko.

 

It was two in the afternoon when her doorbell rang. Koko was meet with an overweight man in a beige suit wearing an amulet with a giant star on a gold chain. His poofy brown hair was reminiscent of Elvis Presly mixed with an upward pompadour. He glanced down at his clipboard.

“Hey there,” he spoke with a bit of an airy drawl, “Is this the home of Misa-,”

“ _Koko_ , please call me ‘Koko’.” She interrupted, she hasn’t gone by her birth name in decades.

“Well, I assume you’re _Koko_ Garmadon, then?” Her nod seemed to give him permission to keep talking, “Alright, I’ll just add this to the records.” He pulled a pen out from the crook of his right ear. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed it buried in his heavily styled mane. He scratched out her given name with two lines of black ink; the first attempt had only underlined the word. He wrote: “Koko,” above the sloppy strikethrough, it was hard to tell if he wrote it in all lowercase or in all capitals.

“Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I suppose I should introduce myself.”

“Yes, what are you doing here? Do you have a warrant?” ‘If looks could kill.’ Dareth thought with a tug to his collar.

“Do I have a _warrant_ ?” He chuffed, “No, I’m not like an undercover cop or anything. I’m _Dareth Brown,_ but my students call me ‘ _Grand Sensei Dareth_ ’, I’m with _Child Protective Services_.”

“Hold on, ‘ **_Grand_ ** _Sensei_?’” She asked concealing a chuckle under the guise of a cough.

“It’s a funny story really.” He inched closer to the door, “May I come in?” Koko rolled her eyes and stepped aside. He was quick to sit down on her couch.

“You see, I run a dojo near the NC News tower,” He paused to see if she was still listening - she was, albeit, begrudgingly.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t had many students lately, or for the past _five_ years.” He admits bitterly, “I, uh, couldn’t afford to replace some of the equipment, so _one_ of my students, a good kid, named Nelson - we call him Lil’ Nelson - it’s his father’s name,”

“Mmhm, go on, it’s not like I’ve got another shift in a couple of hours.”

He gulped, “he, well, he was doing an upper body workout on the old jungle gym and the rack was so rusted it snapped off.” His eyes darted to his dress shoes, “The fall and the metal caused the poor boy to break both of his legs.”

She gasped, “That’s terrible!”

He sighed and took a glimpse at his clipboard, “I _know_ , and it looks even worse on me because I couldn’t afford to fix the dang thing. Lil’ Nelson’s parents were furious and footed me the hospital bill, and let me tell you: it’s massive. I thought, ‘I’m gonna go out of business if I can’t find a way to pay it off!’” ‘Was he imitating himself?’ This man seemed to do everything in his power to perplex her.

“My good friend, Ronin, found me a job that literally no one else was willing to do, at first I thought it was related to his _business_ , but luckily for me it wasn’t.”

“What does he do?” Could one blame her for being curious?

“All he said was that it was ‘old fashioned '. We met in community college; we shared a Japanese language course, since I’m relatively new to Ninjago I needed to learn so I could talk to anyone in this city. All I know his that he’s got a really good aim; one time I saw him shoot a rat on the other side of the block.” ‘He’s an _assassin_.’ She mulled.

“You’re new to Ninjago too? I wouldn’t see you as the travelling type.”

“Yeah, I teach a variation of Tai Chi called, ‘ _Dòngwù yìshù:_ **_Dareth_ ** _de fēnggé_.’” 

She snorted, “ _Animal Arts?”_ She was no stranger to Chinese being that it was her native tongue.

He scoffed, brushing it off, “Anyway, I’m here for a statement. You see, my _bosses_ ,” he leaned in close, “Think a volcano might not be the best place to raise a kid, so they sent me to examine the place, but I was allowed to get a statement from you and I’d like to put off my ferry to the _headquarters_ of **_Lord Garmadon_** for as long as I legally can. I get _hazard pay_ for doing this; I’m paid by the hour, so please take your time.” He leaned back on the couch, it creaked under his weight, “I got all day.”

It took a moment for it to sink it. The severity of it all. They were looking for an excuse to separate Lloyd from his father. As much as she wanted to believe it was in good faith, she knew it would only bring havoc to their city. Garmadon definitely wouldn't take it sitting down. It was often hard to believe people _couldn't_ love her baby, but the fact remained: they deemed Lloyd to be a threat from the very moment they learned of his heritage. Him moving in with his father only exacerbated their fears. 

It didn't help that Ninjago discriminated against Oni, going as far as to characterize them as demons or _monsters_. Lloyd had been bullied all his life for not only being his father's son but for also being part Oni.

"If you quote anything I say today, please let it be this: don't put Lloyd into foster care." She knew that those people wouldn't care for Lloyd, nor would they try to see him as a person. It frustrated her to no end, it wasn't fair! Why should her boy be pegged as a monster for life? _Sure_ , Oni experience the world _differently_ and react unlike a human would, but why would you blame someone for something they have no control over? It wasn't Lloyd's fault everytime he lashed out when he was hurt, nor was it his fault for wanting a relationship with his father. She knew that was his Oni side trying to cope with the cruelty and chaos he has had to endure.

Oni parents play more _active_ roles than their human counterparts and are crucial to proper development: mentors, guardians, teachers, and role models, et cetera. Without them - in a realm where the only other occupants are murderous dragons fueled by a primordial passion - they would surely die soon after birth. Koko mused if it was Garmadon's Oni half that had made him so proactive in his modern conquest of Ninjago on more than one occasion. On the other hand, Oni instincts don't usually commandeer the functions of the Oni, they act more as a guide or an impulse; Garmadon had a tight grip over himself, but Lloyd hasn't had the time to really get a handle on it and is often dragged along for the ride.

"Dareth, please make sure he isn't forced to be in the foster system. I trust them to be kind to him; you've seen just how well this city treats him."

"Ma'am, I don't think you have to worry about that," He scratched his neck. "Seeing as Ninjago is already in shambles, I don't think the _higher ups_ will want to aggress Lord Garmadon in any way."

"If they were worried about Lloyd 'joining' his father, I think they'd try to split the two up."

"That's a solid theory you got there, Ko`, but I think the chance is minimal. Given that we're in a depression an' all."

She relaxed some, Dareth took that as a win.

" _So_ ," his voice trailed off, "It must be one wild story you've got."

" _What_ must be?"

"How you met Garmadon."

"That's awful personal, Mr. Brown."

"Mr. Brown was my father's name, please call me: 'Sensei Dareth.'"

"I'm _so_ not doing that."

"That's—," he deflated slightly, "—fair."

"But, really, how did someone like you meet someone like—?,"

" _Garmadon_?" She finished.

* * *

Garmadon.

"Lord Garmadon, sir, you have a call." He had just tucked Lloyd into bed, what now?

"This better be important." He couldn't keep his mind of Lloyd. His son needed him, Oni puberty is painful in its first stages - and last stages. He rubbed his arms at the memory.

"It's from one of your Dark Island territories." 'I haven't been there in a while, I probably need to re-enforce myself. That puppet-head of mine better not be shirking his duties!'

"Well, what are you waiting for: a _standing ovation_? **Give** **it** **here**!"

"Y-yes, my lord."

"Hi-high Lord Garmadon! H-how is your conquest of Ninjago?"

"They're under my iron boot."

His general beside him whispered, "The phrase you were looking for was 'iron fist' or simply 'boot.'"

"Whatever, it was like _shooting fish in a barrel_."

"Excellent, your excellency." The esteemed warlord narrowed his eyes at the puppet. (What a suck up!)

"Enough small talk, why did you contact me? This better be important."

"Oh, you see, there was this, um–,"

"Spit it out! I don't have time to waste on your blubbering!" The man's posture straightened, had that fool snapped to attention?

"There's a rebellion here. C-c-could you come–?" 'No wonder why they're rebelling, this dude's a total wet blanket!'

"I'll send some of my best troops, not the lackeys I normally send to fight those pesky ninja with. Mechs with **real** bullets and artillery. Tanks, bombs, the works." He had been relatively gentle in his efforts to claim Ninjago, after all, his son (and wife/ex-wife) had been living there. The Dark Island, however, was an actual warzone; there was nothing of immediate value there, much unlike Ninjago. They call it ‘dark’ for a reason, the smoke is thicker than the clouds. Okay, there was _something_ of immediate value there: it was a reservoir of a material un-cleverly named ‘dark matter,’ the only other place it formed naturally was in the confines of the Underworld. It’s only good for enhancing weapons and mild mind control; in the Underworld, one would consume it with their insect(s) of choosing. The dish was called ‘concentrated evil’ as if evil could manifest physically. He had eaten it everyday for over sixty years, how he survived a lifetime in the Underworld was beyond him. ‘Samukai made a good hinchman.’ Garmadon reminisced with a hint of fondness, ‘The little rebellious traitor.’ That Skulken fell in combat to the very woman he married. Sure, she was doing it out of a sense of justice instead of revenge, but dead is dead.

‘Koko, can’t you come back to me?’ How did he drive her away even _now_ ? He never cheated, heck, he hadn’t even dated during all this time in case she ever wished to come back. The only man, woman, or person who belonged in his arms was _her_ . There’d never be another person like Lady Iron Dragon, not in a million years. Something broke within him when she left with _their_ child, at least it’s his turn to hoard Lloyd. Lloyd was and is Koko’s last momento, he sees so much of her unrelenting fire in him, his only regret is that he hadn’t noticed it sooner. If he had, maybe they’d all be a family again. He never bothered to change any of his contact info from back in the day on the off chance she wanted to be the one to reach out first. What was wrong with him? Did he love her or the _concept_ of her? Was he just being sentimental and over-romanticizing it in his head? ‘Don’t be absurd, Garmadon, she is/was your wife.’ He told himself. Oh, how he missed her so much, it’s been fourteen years, and yet he missed her as much as he had when he first watched her paddle away to Ninjago. He let the lava streak down his cheeks then because the grief was absolutely overwhelming, he had lost the two most valuable people in his life just because he wouldn’t part with his empire. He still wouldn’t now, ~~way too much work as gone into it to just throw it away~~ , but had he been wiser he would’ve convinced her to stay. She didn’t want Lloyd to become a warlord, he should’ve been more open to it. It was his fault why they left. Change- the unpredictable kind- scared him, _Lord Garmadon_ , of all people, Lloyd’s only with him _now_ because he crashed their economy with no concern with the consequences, ‘ ~~What a trump card~~.’ 

‘No wonder why she left, I brought this upon myself.’ 

* * *

Koko.

“ _Garm_ , well, I met him on the battlefield, believe it or not. We had a mutual enemy, just this nobody Skulken I once teamed up with, think his name was Mazu. Mazu thought that just because we fought together once, that it meant we were an item.”

“Oh, I hate guys like that.” Koko gave him a confused glance, “Uh, keep going.”

“The land was being conquered to use volcanic rock and dust for weapons development. I was told those bombs could’ve leveled all of the Dark Island settlements. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Skulken and Serpentine forces had joined because neither would be affected by the nukes they were going to manufacture. When I heard wind of it, which didn’t take long I was battling Serpentine nearby, I wasn’t the only one who came to stop them.”

“Wait, Garmadon, really?”

“Yes, really. I was as surprised as you when I first found out, apparently Garmy had some beef with the head Skulkin, Samukai, of whom I killed on my way up the volcano. We had approached from two separate sides of the volcano, my side was where Samukai was. I remember him congratulating me on my victory after our scuffle. He said something really weird to me that day, ‘You fight here often?’ Like, it’s a _battlefield_ , battles can last for weeks- even _months-_ at a time.”

“Why’d you chose to keep seeing him? I-if you knew who he was, I mean.” ‘Good question, Dareth,’ Koko pondered, why did she keep coming back and why did she let him seek her out?

“I don’t know what it was, yet the adrenaline from battle and that dopamine from victory- it really made me see him in a different light. I knew of him; I knew he was evil, don’t get me wrong. He- I knew I could trust him to have my back. He offered to take me out for pizza during our fight with Shen, I thought he was such a goof. It felt so invigorating to be with him. I kept telling myself how wrong it was to be dating a menacial warlord, but my 19-year-old self didn’t care. If it was wrong to be with him, then she didn’t want to be right.” She was turning 35 in the midst of November, those days were probably behind her; she hasn’t picked up her crossbow since Lloyd was seven.

“You fought in the Skulken and Serpentine War?” He wrote something on his clipboard, scribbled it out and then wrote “VETERAN” above it.

“I think that fort stationed on the volcano-side contributed in Garm moving into the volcano just beyond Ninjago City bay.” She held a hand to her cheek, “I wonder if he’s gotten over me after all these years.” Part of her wants him to be happy and move on, but _another_ part of her selfishly wishes he hadn’t. She hasn’t dated since she him with Lloyd in tow; it just **_hurt_ **thinking about replacing him. Maybe it’s because they had been married before all this mess, but she felt a link between her and him re-enforced by the only thing that connected the both of them, Lloyd. She knew it was stupid, but thinking about seeing another man reeked of betrayal.

“Have you seen other people?”

“No, never.”

“Why not? Were you afraid he’d find out and kill the guy?” 

“No, I couldn’t- I can’t trust them to care for Lloyd, and I didn’t want to overwhelm Lloyd. He feels very conflicted about having to stay with his father. It’s silly, I can’t even think about seeing other people; it feels like I’m betraying him. Like there’s an unspoken loyalty between us.”

“I wish Gale and I had something like that.”

“Should I even ask?”

“You know what? No, you shouldn’t because she keeps rejecting my advances, once I fix up my dojo, she’ll see that I’m an excellent provider.” He stands up with a dull fire in his eyes, leaving a Dareth shaped dent in the couch.

“And, I should probably go- gotta finish my shift, you know how it is.”

“Yes, I got another shift starting soon.”

“Well, I better call to arrange a ferry.”

“There aren’t any ferries that go to his base.” Dareth gulped, he had been procrastinating on this part; she knew that from the start when he encouraged her to share a story or two from the past.

“You see, that’s what I’m worried about. I gotta call the man himself and ask for one.” He pulled back the fabric of his collar. 

“How’d you even get his number?”

“Ronin is a man of many talents.” Dareth swooned. ‘Is he sure that Gale is whom he has the hots for? Eh, its none of my business.’

“Anyway, thanks for having me,” he squeezed his feet into his tied dress shoes and shut the door gently behind him.

She opened the door and hollered after the pudgy man clothed almost exclusively in browns, “If you see Lloyd while you’re there, say ‘hi’ for me!”

“Sure thing!”

* * *

Garmadon.

“You-you’ve got another call.” Why do all of his underlings have to stutter in his presence? He rolled his eyes under closed eyelids.

“Who is it now? Whatever, I don’t care, just answer it.” On the other side of the phone there was a voice who was probably _more_ nervous than his minion, ‘if that was even possible. I swear, they weren’t so skittish when I first met them.’ Turns out seeing their comrades get shot out of a volcano makes cowards out of his, he curled his lip, _employees_ , foot soldiers was probably the better term _._ This wasn’t a _business_ , he was running an empire , he had no time for this. He’d been pacing circles into the tiles worrying about leaving Lloyd with his generals. He knew Lloyd needed him in his hour of need, he can’t just abandon him, but he also can’t bring him with him to the Dark Island either. He’d just be endangering the boy. This was his first chance in fourteen years to get a chance to raise his son, he refused to mess up the only opportunity he’ll ever get. If he played his cards right, Lloyd will chose to stay with him and maybe Koko will follow suite- in a perfect world, anyway. In an _imperfect_ world, he’ll have to do what’s necessary to keep his progeny his. He tried to shake the thought away, the Oni part of his mind was getting territorial of Lloyd again, not that he didn’t agree on the principle; but he wasn’t 20, 70, nor 130 anymore, he couldn’t let himself be controlled by it like he had in his younger days. 

Was it only the warlord lifestyle that drove her away or did Koko not want Lloyd to pick up any of his Oni habits? He hadn’t considered that before, she had been so accepting of him- she never seemed to notice how dark his skin was nor care that all his time in the Underworld gave him fluorescent carmine eyes and ‘tears of fire’ as he once called it. He consumed a _lot_ of concentrated evil in his youth* that and lightning, he battled near daily to keep his rank and build up his strength. ‘Wu, that fool, thought he could banish me and leave me to die, but I conquered the Underworld and made it _my_ domain- for a little while anyway.’ He’d just about left it for dead once he finally escaped that hellhole. Could they blame him for hiring professional chefs after he ate flavorless, foul-smelling gunk and bugs from his late thirties to his early one-hundreds? What in the icy hell was Wu doing after he banished him after the Great Serpentine war (SW1, pronounced “s’won”)? He chuckled placing a hand over his eyes, his hair was awful when he first fell in: it looked like an electrocuted wet paintbrush.

“It’s for you.” ‘Of course it’s for me!’ He rubbed his temples, ‘I’m surrounded by imbeciles.’

“Who is this?”

“Dareth Brown,” ‘What kind of name is Dareth?’

“I’m here on behalf of Child Protective Services.” He sounded like he was reading a script.

“I need to check if your _home_ is fit for children.”

“La-loyd’s fourteen, what’s the big deal?”

“It-it’s nothing personal, I don’t make the rules I just follow ‘em. I just need a tour so Lloyd doesn’t have to be sent into foster care.” ‘Psh, foster care, as if!’

“Anything else?”

“I need a ferry to get to your place of residence.”

“Consider it done, describe your appearance.”

“I’m wearing a brown suit and carrying a clipboard?”

“You get that, General No. 7?” The General in question didn’t so much as flinch when he called her name.

“Already texted the coast patrol.” They should send some dockworker to bring him here.

“Splendid.” ‘It’s refreshing to see some competence around here.’

* * *

Dareth.

“Hey, you there!” The sudden voice made him jump out of his skin.

“Yeah?” He was one of the Shark Army’s grunts. The grizzled man had wild white hair (the roots and his bangs were black so he must’ve dyed it) a beanie, and a five o’clock shadow, it kind of reminded him of Ronin - if he ignored the hair. The man also had a gap on his left* (( _Stage left_ )) eyebrow. 

“Are yous ‘Dareth Brown?’”

“I am, yes.” The man’s face went from disinterested to vaguely intrigued.

“Good, ‘cuz we got a message for the boss that you needed a ride to the base.” He parked an inconspicuous boat near the port.

After boarding, the man tried to break the ice, “What brings you to see Garmadon? Applying for a job?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m going to survey the place. Rumors got out-,” ‘What rumors? Garmadon broadcasted the whole thing across the city.’ “-that he’s harboring his son.”

“What _other_ rumors got out?” The escort had a gun in his hostler, Dareth was painfully aware of that now.

“Nothing else, d-don’t worry. We’re just required to show the bare minimum of concern for Lloyd’s health, no one else wanted to do this job. Yuh-you understand, right.”

“Yeah, I get it. Say what you want about Lord Garmadon, but he treats us right. Well, not his generals, he expects them to be on their A game.” He wheeze-laughs, “Glad he don’t expect dat of us!” He put his hands on his knees. 

He reveals a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, “Want a tiger-widow cig?”

“No thank you, I swore that off when I decided I was going to work with kids.”

“Shame, this stuff is rarer than rare. Tiger-widows are endangered, the boss keeps an eye on ‘em because their venom is powerful enough to put him in a two-day coma.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’ll kill anyone else out flat, but not the boss. Sumn about bein’ part Obi-,”

“Oni.” Dareth corrected.

“Yeah, dat. Makes him tougher than pretty much everyone.” Did this man admire him?

“So, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s Luke Cunningham, most people don’t bother to ask. Makes sense though, I just pack and ship goods from here to the base.” Luke seemed to appreciate the attention.

“Um, what do you have right now?”

“Uh, mostly fabrics n’ stuff for da tailors. Must be for uniforms, I dunno.”

“Garmadon has _tailors_?”

“Why wouldn’t he? You see all those aquatic themed outfits the army uses.”

“Okay, you got me there.” He hadn’t thought about that.

“Yep. Well, we’re here.” He lightly shoved Dareth off.

“Get out.”

“I’m going.”

“It was nice knowing you.” Dareth added quietly.

“Yeah, me too.” Luke had a small smile, so small even that Dareth almost didn’t see it. General No. 5 was observing them, so Luke had to act tough. If he got a bad review, he’d lose any chance at rising through the ranks ((not that Dareth knew that, I needed a transition)). 

* * *

Garmadon’s evil fortress was decked! Mechs were left and right, and there was an absurd amount of sharks circling the entrance of the fort; some were even on land. ‘???’ Dareth _thunk_ at a complete loss of words. ‘That shouldn’t be possible.’ (( ~~Hey, it’s my job to break the fourth wall - that, and to, aheh, write the story~~.))

His current escort was very serious about her position, she kept ordering people to get back to work as they rode the elevator to Garmadon’s _visitation room_. ‘I don’t feel safe here. Oh, why did I take this job?! This is better suited for an OSHA agent!” General No. 5 stared at him.

He let out a nervous laugh, “Did I say that out loud?” He adjusted his hair with a dandelion yellow fine comb he always keeps in his blazer pocket.

“Yes, you did. You’re already here, it’s too late to turn back.” She was right, if he tried to turn back, he’d probably end up losing a leg - or a considerable portion of his liver. He pocketed the comb. He gulped, “What are you waiting for?” She shoved him closer to the door.

“I’m not ready yet!” He took a deep breath, ‘You got this, Dareth. Just keep things professional and you’ll be fine. _He could totally kill me here and_ **_no one_ ** _would know_ .’ His brain _helpfully_ added. So much for steeling his nerves!

“You’re ready **enough** , stop wasting Lord Garmadon’s time.” The elevator door split open and the general didn’t hesitate to make it shut behind him.

Lord Garmadon offered him a fanged grin and a hand to shake - from his lower right arm, this man was like 7 feet tall. Was he being considerate? Dareth stood at the proud height of 5’4”; who could be sure?

“Ah, so you were the man on the phone.” Garmadon, while his voice was smooth with a side of gravel, he was clearly a force to be reckoned with.

“What a _pleasure_ it is to meet the man who’s in charge of my son’s custody.” He said with a velvety tone and a muted but still visible sneer.

Dareth cleared his throat, “Ahem, yes. I just need a guided tour and I’ll see if it meets the standards.” He gestured to his clipboard with contained enough pages to fill a booklet (So about 24 pages).

“And, I’ll be on my way.”

“ _Fantastic_.”

“Fantastic.” Dareth said with a pained grimace that was passable for a smile.

“Gl-glad to see we’re on the same page.”

“I as well, shall we proceed?”

“Lead the way.”

 

Garmadon.

Inconceivable, Lloyd’s fate rests in the feeble mitts of a stout, overweight man in his forties?

 

Dareth.  

‘Unbelievable, I’m walking with Lord Garmadon. I’ll be lucky not to be killed.’

 

Garmadon.

How could this happen? Who in charge thought it was a good idea to hire is oaf?

 

Dareth.

‘Why, oh why, oh why, did I apply for this job? DO I HAVE **NO** SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION AT ALL?!’

 

Garmadon.

He’s been awfully quiet, “You’ve been awfully quiet.” Mr. _Dareth_ Brown jumped when he spoke.

He practically had his nose buried in his clipboard as he flipped through the pages with near-reckless abandon.

“Uh, okay, um, would you like to leave a statement? K-Lloyd’s mother left one, I went there first for obvious reasons.”

“It’s ‘ _La_ -loyd,’ and sure.”

“Um, do you want to write it or is telling me fine?”

“What did Koko say?” Did she approve of Lloyd staying with him? ‘I mean, she would, right? She sent the email, _even if it was worded like it was a **last resort**_.’

“Explicitly not to put him in foster care.” At least they agree on one thing.

“Write: ‘La-loyd’s best with me. Koko is right, foster care would do more harm than good.’ Dare I say, the racial profiling that Oni get can rival that of the likes of the Serpentine - and it’s only the two of us!” Granted, he kind of helped set that precedent, and at least they don’t have the Oni equivalent of ‘Never Trust a Snake.’

“Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but I might not be. La-loyd hasn’t opened up enough to tell me about his school life, but I can tell he’s being treated poorly based on how dodgy he is about it.” (When did he switch to parent mode?)

“He could just not have good grades?” Dareth’s words conveyed a suggestive tone, at least he knows his place is beneath him.

“I think he knows I’ll buy him tutors if he needs ‘em. No, I think this is about something else. We sort of just met, he’s only been here for a day,” he thinks back to how Lloyd hissed at him during breakfast, “I don’t think he’s registered me as a parent yet; oh, but he **will** \- given enough time.” He waved off the last part. Time is ample to Oni, but he’d prefer for Lloyd not to take 50 years to see him as a guardian; he can’t keep the depression a _depression_ for that long - yet.

“That sounds vaguely sinister.”

“I’m **Lord Garmadon** , elemental master of destruction, _everything_ I say sounds sinister. Hēihēi.”

“ _Uh_ .” Dareth’s discomfort was apparent, ‘Can he recognize evil laughs?’ Wait, he’s Garmadon, every laugh is an evil laugh - at least to strangers, his underlings certainly know when a guffaw is evil or not. He hasn’t had anyone join in on his insidious chortling since Lloyd did as an infant, that’s fine. Lloyd surly wouldn’t be up for it now, he seems too neutral to want to partake in a scheming cackling session candidly. No matter, like Koko said, Lloyd should be free to choose his own future, ‘as long as I’m in it.’ He weened rather possessively. His instincts were daring to take over, the rational part of his brain knew he was acting like this because Lloyd was in great pain before he fainted, but it only sounded like an excuse to the photoaged dark lord. He’s been thinking about Lloyd nonstop for the past several hours, his Oni coding was taking advantage of how _worried_ he was about Lloyd. He knew what the process was like, it would be no walk in the park. He had no desire to be there, walking with some nobody; he wanted to be by Lloyd’s bedside, offer him a hand or two to squeeze. He felt an urgent need to see Lloyd, sensing his distress.

“How about I tag out of this tour? There’s somewhere I need to be so,” he scanned the area for generals, “General No. 11! Continue the tour in my stead.” General No. 11 had short, black hair parted to the left side of her head. She wore the same outfit all of his generals did, but she also had two, wide, blue fins extend from her neck; one going up looking like an upward turned collar, and one going down giving the appearance of a cape. She had requested the uniform herself, which was fine; technically, they all could’ve done that, but most generals lack creativity (maybe she took a fashion design class in high school or college).

“On it, sir!” He didn’t waste a second, sprinting as Lloyd’s feeling of distress grew.

‘Was he crying? Was he hungry? Was he in pain?’ He inserted a key with a skull-shaped top and twisted. He pressed the second to highest button. He tapped his foot as he watched the number on the display steadily rise.

‘La-loyd, I’m coming for you.’

* * *

Lloyd.

I woke in daze. I tried to recognize my surroundings; I don’t know how I returned to my new room, but at least I’m somewhere sort of familiar. The blanket bond me to my bed, ‘someone had tucked me in.’ 

“I really gotta stop waking up like this.” I said to myself in a scarcely concealed murmur.

‘Why? All I remember was-,’ I whipped out my hands from under the warm cloth in alarm. I felt something which was tiny, dry, smooth, and had concave shape to it from under the sheet as I dug out my hands; they felt oddly familiar. Some edges of the mysterious shell-like objects were sharp as if serrated, but that wasn’t important then. The sight of my hands filled me with growing horror: they were completely black and still swollen at the tips, some areas - such as the palm and fingertips - were raised slightly and felt slightly stiffer than the skin around it. The more I looked, the more disgusted I became: my fingers were completely devoid of nails. I kicked up the sheets to see that my missing nails were indeed underneath the covers; I screamed.

“Why is this happening to me?!” I knew the answer to that question but I refused to accept it, not in full. With a swift roll of my sleeve, black flesh glistened back at me with the aid of a slimy layer of sweat. I curled into the fetal position, ignoring how my hands throbbed with heat and pain. I jolted upright when my room was barged into by a certain blood relative.

“La-loyd! Are you okay?” It was oddly nice to be fussed over, I was getting used to Garmadon’s newfound presence in my life. He froze for a second when he saw my discarded fingernails - nail bed and all. 

“Show me your hands!” I winced and showed him my faux frostbitten mitts; he seemed to be suppressing a prideful grin.

Quieter, he asked, “Can you use your claws yet?”

“I, I don’t know.” I was kind of afraid to try.

“How about we do it together - on a count of twelve?”

“I don’t know how do it! _And, I don’t want to._ ”

“Why not?” His pearly white claws were almost always out, I suspect it’s to be intimidating. 

“Does it hurt?”

“The first time? Yeah, it’s going to cut through your skin and they’ll always stick out a little.” (Not comforting.)

“We should totally get a rag for this there’s going to be _a_ **lot** of blood, my kerchief might not handle it.” ‘If I start hyperventilating, it’s totally his fault.’

I frantically grabbed on to one of his arms with both hands and pulled it in close, “Please stop talking.” Suddenly, a string sharp stings stung all my digits; it felt like getting pricked ten times (if you were pricking balloons). I pulled my hands back and noticed the swelling had lessened.

“I didn’t think that was going to work.” He pulled out a dark purple handkerchief, wiped his arm and handed it to me.

“See? Was that so bad? Like ripping off a band-aid.” I held it in my hands.

“Dad! Why did you do that? That was scary!”

“You didn’t want to do it, and if you didn’t ever do it, let’s just say we’d have to-,” he clears his throat, “-eventually _release the blood_ with - like - a **needle** or something. And besides, it’s how my dad got me to use my claws.”

“I don’t even wanna know.” I did, but I was _not_ going to ask. The more I thought about it, the more curious I got. What I really wanted was a break from all this Oni stuff, but it was all Dad ever seemed to talk about with me. I know he was trying to be helpful, but it was all so new to me.

“Oh, really? If you’re sure.”

“Dad, I’m serious!”

“Oh, c’mon~, I can tell you’re curious. And, I’ve been dying for an opportunity to tell someone.”

“I just said I’m not interested!” I would say that I want to sleep, but I felt oddly energized at that very moment (I _did_ just wake up not even 30 minutes ago).

“It’s not a long story really-,” I swiped at him in a fluid movement like I had been doing so all my life. If I stopped to think about, I would probably agree with that statement.

“Whoa! What’s the matter?”

“How do I get rid of these things?” He hummed as he mulled his response over.

“If you’re talking about declawing, I forbid it; unlike cats, our claws will just grow back with a vengeance.”

I crossed my arms and pouted like a child ((you are a child)), “I’m getting real tired of this Oni healing factor stuff.” 

“It’ll save your life one day.”

“Oh, I’m _sure_ it has.” I grumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to know how to put these away.”

“Oh, that’s-,” ((physically impossible)) “-easy, just do this.” He proceeded to jerk his fingers backwards. It was honestly the weirdest thing to see him without his slightly hooked claws out, after all these years of battle he had never tucked them in.

I giggled, “That’s a weird look on you.”

“I know, I think it’s been 14 years since I’ve retracted them.”

After trying and failing at retracting them for three minutes, I huffed, “Why can’t I do it?” I could only pull it in halfway.

“You gotta let your body get used to them. Just wait until your feet change, you won’t be able to walk until the process it done.”

“I can’t do this.”

“You can’t do what?”

“I can’t go to school like this,” I yanked my hair downward, “they’re gonna eat me alive.” 

“Then you eat _them_ alive.” I gave him a pointed look.

“Okay, yeah, bad advice. You could fire them out of the family volcano?”

“Don’t call it that, and no.”

“But, you could.”

“Still not going to, blowing things up is more your thing than mine.”

“Well, once I finish my assault on Ninjago City, you won’t have to worry about anyone messing with ya ever again.” He placed a hand on my knee.

I pushed it off after a few seconds, “I _appreciate_ the sentiment, I do, I do.” 

I knew I was going to regret my next statement before I even said it, “It’s just, _well_ ~, I-I don’t think NGC exactly _needs_ to be conquered.” 

Everything fell silent, before Garmadon spoke with carefully worded wording ~~((Note to self: don’t write at 4 AM))~~ , “Is that so?” Boy, was **his** teeth **sharp**.

“I-I mean, do they even _need_ **new** management?” I was met with a calculating stare, that _wasn’t_ good.

“They-they seem to be doing okay by themselves, right?” I wanted to punch myself in the face, Ninjago is suffering from a Garmadon-induced economic depression. “ _Even if they treat me like **dirt**_.” I mumbled bitterly. His ear twitched. ‘He didn’t hear me, did he?’

“Oh, yeah. That’s _totally_ the impression I’m getting from their **_failing_ **economy; but what would you know about economics? You’re in ninth grade.” He snickered at me. At least he doesn’t look like he wants to eat me anymore (always a plus). I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

"Hey, c'mon, that's not fair; you caused their conundrum."

"True, true. Wait, did you say ‘ _treat [you] like dirt_?’” 'Oh man, he heard that.'

“What?! N-no. It’s not like they blame me for everything you do to the city and lash out at me because you’re unavailable.”

“You bet your @$$ I’m not.” ~~((Are children reading this?))~~

“ **Ah**! Language!”

“You’re in highschool, I’m sure you hear it all the time.” He waved it off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Ugh, it’s so frustrating!”

“Me?” He looked mildly offended; I chuckled despite everything.

“Yes, but also Ninjago! I can’t ever do anything: stores always close when walk up to them.” I cut myself off before I started ranting about my countless bullies I face every single freaking day, that could start a war or something.

“That’s just a terrible business practice. If you don’t like that city, why do you care if I conquer it?”

“Uh, there are good people living there, like Mom and my friends, and I don’t, um, want them to suffer, you know?”

“Tell me, La-loyd, how do you feel about those pesky ninja who oppose me?”

“Uh, never met them personally.” My eyes looked anywhere but at his.

“Mom tells me to run and hide when you attack, and to let the ninja handle it.” Not a lie. I was able to maintain eye contact with him as I said that part at least.

“Come to think of it, what am I supposed to do now if you attack the city?”

With a wicked smirk he says, “Simple, I won’t destroy anything until you’re back here, safe and sound.”

“Oh, well, that will certainly help with my grades. No one’s ever to get through a full school day with all these onslaughts.” 

“Once I have claimed that wretched city, you won’t have to worry about anything giving you grief ever again. I’ll **make** them treat you with respect.”

“I don’t know, wouldn’t they hate me more?”

“Can they hate you more?” I opened my mouth to reply, then closed it.

“You got a point there.”

“Of course I do, and, since I'll no longer be attacking the city, no one will hate you anymore.”

“ _Gah_! **Stop talking** about it! I almost **_agree_** with you.” ‘The city _really_ would be better off if Dad conquered it. No, no, don't be absurd.’

“Why so pale?”

“You’re _evil_ and I’m sort of agreeing with you; what does that make me?” 'This is freaking me out.'

“Logical, Son; that and neutral, I suppose.”

“Neutral.” I repeated, ‘How could I be neutral? I was supposed to be a force for good. Would he actually be benefiting the city if he seized control over it?’ 

“You know, all those years ago, I wanted to burn the city to the ground and raise you on its ashes. Ninjago City is the last populated area in all of Ninjago - if I got control over it, I’d rule the whole world!”

“Small world.”

“Hm, indeed.”

“Would you still burn down the entire city if you got it?”

“Only if they _all_ had shoddy foundations. It takes a lot of money to build an entire city from scratch; it would’ve been easier back in the day, when I had more allies.” He shrugged.

“That’s a relief.”

I stammered under his gaze, “I-I mean, if you de-demolished it, that would leave a lot of h-homeless people.”

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing, “Hm, yes. Now are you going to tell me about your arm?”

“Arm?” I looked at my arm to see that the sleeve was still rolled up to the elbow.

“ _Oh_ , **_that_** arm.” I pulled the sleeve down, only for my new claws to get snagged on them.

“Is your other arm the same way?” I scratched my neck, his eyes widened before he grabbed my hand.

“Careful!” His eyes lingered on my neck for a moment.

“Sorry. Um, I don’t know.” He reached over and revealed that yes it was the same.

“You’re really growing into your own, I see.”

“It’s really not-,”

“Have you noticed this in other areas of your body? I see some dark patches under your chin and on the outside edges of your neck.”

“Besides my knees, no. I-, did you say on my neck?!”

“That’s what I said.”

“I can’t hide that! Everyone’s gonna see it!”

“Why’s that important again?”

“Ugh, _you don’t understand_ . For every single day of my life, whenever anyone would look at me, all they would see is a **monster**. With all of these _changes,_ it gives them all the more reason to believe that. I just want to blend in.”

“I _do_ understand, La-loyd. Whenever I go into the Ninjago I have to wear a hat, face mask, and a large trench coat.”

“But that’s different, you’re - like - a criminal. I’m... _not_ a criminal.”

“Not with that attitude.” He quipped.

“Oni aren’t monsters, La-loyd. Do you really think that?”

“That’s not what the textbooks say. They say we’re demons, and _look_ at **us**! We’ve got claws and razor sharp teeth.”

“So do cats, dogs, and crocodiles, are they demons?”

“No.”

“They just call us demons because they don’t understand us and don’t wish to. Before my Oni puberty began, I looked a lot like how you did just with darker hair, after that people characterized me as evil and it was completely unfounded. Truth or no, it didn’t stop them from doing it; eventually, I decided to walk a darker path. I remember saying, ‘Evil, am I? If that’s all they’ll ever see then that’s all they’ll ever get!’ Wu didn’t think much differently about the Oni than the rest of Ninjago did, it divided us. When he discovered my shift into villainy, he chalked it up to the Oni in me instead of my own volition. My father understood me throughout the years, but chose not to intervene; I’m not going to make that mistake with you, Son.” He embraced me, “You deserve so much better than that.”

“You don’t deserve to be treated like garbage for something you couldn’t control. You have a kind heart, La-loyd, I’d hate for you to lose it.”

“Wu, he treated you like everyone else did?”

“Maybe worse, he _is_ a dragonborn. He’s the sole reason why I’ve spent most of my life in the Underworld. Some little brother _he_ is, there’s a reason why I want you to avoid him. If he thinks that ‘your Oni is corrupting you’ he might do the same thing he did to me over a century ago.” 'He-he _wouldn't_.'

“I’m his nephew, why-why would he even consider such a thing?”

“I’m his brother, you think that stopped him from banishing me. He expected me to rot there for all of my life, but I showed him. I crawled out of that hellhole and now possess most of Ninjago. **Wa ha ha!** ” 

He clapped my shoulder, “He may best me in combat, but I’m way better at strategy than he is. If I wasn’t, he could’ve made a suitable resistance by now, but who won? **Me**! Those meddlesome ninja can fight my standard mechs, but they can’t beat **me**.” I perceived that as challenge, ‘Yeah, I can do it, I can take back Ninjago - even if he would be able to stabilize the chaotic financial system.’

Garmadon.

Lloyd had a determined, violet gleam in his eyes, I chuckled and ruffled his hair, **just** as I suspected _._

He'll tell me when he's ready. _Wu_ , vengeance will finally be served.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Garmy! What are you doing with the 1st person POV!? ((Oh, how the turntables.))
> 
> I have to live with what my hands have created.  
> Luke is an actual Ninjago character. No, really, look him up (or don't, I can't tell you what to do). https://ninjago.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Characters  
> It took me for-fracking-ever to settle on Lloyd's design; the Oni takes up about ~40% of his skin's surface area! (Mission accomplished!)  
> I don't know if the length of this chapter represents my growth as an author, but think of this episode being the 44 minute special if the others were 11 minutes a pop. (I don't want them all to be this long; I have been writing this over the course of the month.)
> 
>  
> 
> _Oh, can you guys vote on something for me? - I can't decide. Garmadon's eyes: iris, white or red. I'm partial to red sclera and white/orange irises myself (Ooh! Red sclera, orange irises, yellow/purple pupils - like a fire 'cause lava tears). Please vote or say "yours is good" or something like it in the comments. ~~I'm kind of indecisive about this and like everything in this fic honestly.~~_


	7. 12K Special!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To celebrate reaching 12 K+ words, I'm going to show off concept art and answer any (even spoiler-y) questions from the comments.  
> Chapter 6 took a long time to write, so this is a good little breather.  
> I'm also including my handwritten backstory blurbs for Koko and Garm, good luck reading my handwriting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect Chapter 6 to nearly double the word count, but here we are.

[I can't figure out how to upload photos so click this link and view them from my google drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1KF8UupZ8QORSnu0EdZXbrVa8NegLaIUE)

Hopefully, this will hold you off for now. I'm sorry this took so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider this fic to be on hiatus. I'm too busy and depressed to keep writing right now.  
> 


End file.
